Usein Bodaninsky

Usein Bodaninsky (Crimean Tatar: Üsein Abdurefi oğlu Bodaninskiy, Усеин Абдурефи огълу Боданинский; Russian: Усеи́н Абдрефи́евич Бодани́нский; 1 December 1877 – 17 April 1938) was Crimean Tatar historian, artist, art critic, and ethnographer, and the first director of the Bakhchisaray Palace Museum. His surname is of Russian-language toponymic derivation and means "from Bodana". "Üsein" is a variant of Hussein. He was born in Crimea, in the village Bodana of Simferopol uyezd (district), Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire, now Perovo (Simferopol District).

In 1917 he was appointed director of Bakhchisaray Palace. Bodaninsky's brother died fighting for the Bolsheviks during the Russian civil war in 1920. In the mid 1920s he led a major trip in Crimea for the recovery and study of historic manuscripts, folklore, and architecture.[1]

In 1937 during the Great Purge he was arrested in Tbilisi, accused on nationalist anti-Soviet activities, speedily charged based on Stalin's shooting lists, and shot without trial on 17 April 1938 along with a number of other prominent representatives of Crimean Tatar culture: Asan Sabri Aivazov, Yakub Ablyamitov, Yakub Azizov, Osman Akchokrakly, Ramazan Alexandrovich, Yagya Bayrashevsky, Jafar Gafarov, Kerim Dzhemaledinov, Suleiman Idrisov, Ibraim Ismailov, Abdulla Latif-zade, Fevzi Musanif, Mamut Nedim, Abduraim Samedinov, Ilyas Tarkhan, Server Trupchu, Seitjilil Khattatov, and Bilyal Chagar.[2][3]