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The 2010 Russian Federation National Award in Literature and Arts is conferred to Mikhail Guryev, Valentin Molotkov, and Oleg Zinatullin for their exceptional contribution to preserving and restoring unique museum clocks and musical mechanisms, and reviving the traditions of Russia’s master craftsmen
Mikhail Guryev was born on May 31, 1954, in Leningrad and graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics in 1977. In 2000, he graduated from West Dean College (United Kingdom) as a specialist in restoring antique clocks. He is director of the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Clocks and Musical Mechanisms.
Valentin Molotkov was born on June 8, 1935, in Leningrad. In 1964–1969, he worked as a consultant to the State Hermitage Museum’s chemistry laboratory. He was a member of the special commission to restore the painting Judith by Italian artist Giorgione, and is a senior researcher at the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Clocks and Musical Mechanisms.
Oleg Zinatullin was born on April 8, 1951, in Leningrad. He graduated from the Northwest Polytechnic Institute in 1993. He also has a musical education and is chief designer at the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Clocks and Musical Mechanisms.
The Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Clocks and Musical Mechanisms, is part of the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s biggest arts and cultural history museums, and was established in 1994. It looks after the museum’s collection of around 3,000 clocks and musical mechanisms. This is the only restoration laboratory in Russia specialising in this area, and its staff provide consultation and restoration assistance to museums around Russia and abroad.
The laureates are among the laboratory’s senior staff and are outstanding professionals in their area. Mikhail Guryev is one of Russia’s top specialists in restoring complex mechanisms, Valentin Molotkov is scientific director for comprehensive restoration of both the outer body and inner mechanisms of objects, and Oleg Zinatullin has developed an original new method for computer decoding of musical mechanisms’ cylinders.