The Butaevs
The Butaevs (Butatæ) are an Ossetian family originating from the Styr Mizur locality in the Alagir Gorge; by tradition, the ancestor of the line was named Buta. Zefira Kirillovna Gutnova married into this family when she wed Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev — an electronics scientist and a veteran of the Second World War. This section covers his biography, award documents and war memories, together with the history of the Butaev family.
The Butaev family tree
The chart traces the descendants of Buta Butaev. Select the image to download the family tree as a PDF.
History of the Butaev Family (Butatæ)
THE BUTAEVS (BUTATÆ) originate from the Styr Mizur tract in the Alagir gorge. Their ancestor was named Buta. The family name derives from his name.
Today the family name is 400 years old, and the sixteenth generation from the founder of the line is alive today.
Some of the Butaevs were called after their father's name. For example, the children of Karabai became the Karabaevs, of Zurai the Zuraevs. Among them are also the Pchelaevs, Gasovs, and Gabisoevs (Gabysoytæ). But all of them are Butaevs.
In Styr Mizur the Butaevs were considered a strong and numerous clan.
Once, one of the family's elders allowed residents of another village to fell a section of forest for building a bridge — forest that belonged to the people of Styr Mizur. This angered the representatives of one of the families living in Styr Mizur. The result was a conflict that led to the death of three members of that family. Most of the people of Mizur took the side of those wronged and turned against the Butaevs. A major conflict was brewing. At that time the Butaevs had blood brothers among the Kabardian princes, and they turned to them for help. The princes gathered a large detachment and sent it to help the Butaevs.
When the detachment had passed the Zilakhar meadow, they had to cut through forest to clear a path for the riders. In this way the Butaevs' allies approached Styr Mizur from an unexpected direction. They sent a delegation into the village with an ultimatum — either reconciliation with the Butaevs, or battle. Seeing such a formidable force, the villagers decided to make peace.
Since then this trail has been called the Butaevs' horse trail (Butaty baekhty faendag), and it is still known by that name on modern maps.
Some time later a raid was carried out on the Alagir gorge, causing great loss of life and property, after which a large gathering was convened. The people of Mizur, who still bore a grudge against the Butaevs, proposed: if the Butaev family was so strong, let them settle at the entrance to the Alagir gorge and defend it from raids.
The Butaevs had little choice: either admit their weakness, or take on this heavy and dangerous burden. They would not accept the humiliation, and at the end of the 17th century, led by Butaev Byza, they settled at the narrow entrance to the gorge (where, from the 12th-13th centuries, an outpost of the royal Tsarazon line had stood) and founded a village on the mountainside, which came to be called Byzaikau (later Byzykau, today Biz).
Less than a year had passed when the Kabardians who had helped the Butaevs decided, with a large detachment, to raid the Alagir gorge themselves. They came to the Butaevs, who received them hospitably. After the feast, the guests told their hosts of their intentions. The Butaevs found themselves facing a terrible choice: let through the Kabardians who had helped them and bring shame upon their own people, or stand in defence of the gorge, lose their friends, and perish.
The Butaevs declared that they could not allow a raid on the gorge, since they had been entrusted with guarding it. They offered their guests everything they had — their weapons, livestock, and other property.
This led to a conflict that turned into a terrible battle, at the end of which all the Kabardians were killed, and of the Butaevs only a young man named Taga survived, badly wounded. The whole village nursed him back to health.
After this incident, the residents of the Alagir gorge — alone in all of Ossetia — no longer paid tribute to anyone, and took great pride in this.
Years later, when the young man Taga had become a blind old man, the Badelyata came to the gorge. Women (among them his daughter-in-law), who were down by the spring, noticed the uninvited guests. There were no men in the village at the time. A boy was sent to the old man with the bad news. Taga took up his weapon and instructed his daughter-in-law to tell him when the Badelyata appeared from around the bend, while he sent the boy to light a fire on the tower to warn the residents of the gorge about the raid.
Taga, who could see almost nothing, remembered the spot he had to aim at — the enemy would inevitably have to ride out from there.
A battle broke out, and the Badelyata were destroyed. Pliev Khado wrote a poem about this event.
In the 19th century the Butaevs moved down to the plain, to what is now the Alagir district. The last to leave Byzykau was Mikhel Butaev. He lived to the age of 114.
The Butaevs consider the Kurganovs, Kodoevs, Tsaloevs, and Gabisovs to be their brothers — blood relatives (aervadaeltae).
The Butaevs have no shortage of representatives who brought glory to the family name.
Great fame, not only in Ossetia but across the country, was brought by the sons of Savkudz (Savva) Butaev: Aslanbek, Kazbek, and Inal.
Under Tsar Nicholas II, Aslanbek worked in the administration of the Terek Governorate; under Soviet rule he was a minister in the Mountain Government (Gorskoye Pravitelstvo), and he was also a talented journalist and lawyer, the founder and editor-in-chief of the first Ossetian newspaper.
Aslanbek was a friend of Kosta Khetagurov. The first edition of the collection "Iron Fandyr" was published only thanks to his personal involvement.
Kazbek was first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Terek Republic and of the North Ossetian ASSR in the 1920s-30s, as well as director of the Institute of Red Professors in Moscow, and held a candidate of sciences degree. Inal studied under Kazbek, served as an adviser to Joseph Stalin on international economic affairs, and held a candidate of economic sciences degree. All three brothers were subjected to repression: Kazbek and Aslanbek were shot; Inal was exiled to Central Asia.
Aslanbek's daughter (one of Savkudz Butaev's seven grandchildren), Fatima Aslanbekovna (1907-1992), together with Academician S. I. Vavilov, took part in inventing fluorescent lamps and in the discovery and management of a plant producing them. She also, together with academicians M. M. Vudynsky and V. A. Fabrikant, played a part in the invention of the laser.
Her brother, Devlet Aslanbekovich (born 1923), was head of the Department of Hydro- and Thermodynamics at N. E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, head of a department at the University of Vienna (Austria), and served as director of the Southeast Asia division of UNIDO (the international organisation for the industrial development of developing countries). There is an entry about him, with a photograph, on the Honour Board of the Indian Embassy's Book of Honour.
A great contribution to the development of Ossetia was made by the children of Mikhail (Mamsyr) Butaev: Tamara Mikhailovna was chief architect of the republic and took part in designing the "Kavkaz" hotel, the "Spartak" stadium, and the tower-topped house on the corner of Markov and Dzhanaev streets; Doctor of Technical Sciences Georgiy Mikhailovich founded the Faculty of Electronic Engineering at SKGMI, becoming its first dean and department head; and Candidate of Medical Sciences Boris Mikhailovich was head of the Department of Pharmacology at SOGMI.
Well known is the name of Georgiy Danilovich Butaev (1910-1943) — director of the secondary school in the settlement of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Hero of the Soviet Union.
The court photographer of His Imperial Majesty in the early 20th century was Dmitry Butaev.
Among the Butaevs, 7 people have been awarded the Order of Lenin, 17 hold the Order of the Red Star, 1 is a Hero of the Soviet Union, 1 is a Stalin Prize laureate, and 43 hold orders of the Great Patriotic War. There are also 23 candidates of sciences, 6 doctors of sciences (including 4 professors, 2 academicians), 7 Honoured Physicians of North Ossetia-Alania, 7 Honoured Educators of the republic; and in the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs — one major, 3 lieutenant colonels, and 3 colonels.
Taimuraz Mairamovich Butaev (born 1948) is Chief Sanitary Doctor of North Ossetia-Alania, an Honoured Physician of South Ossetia and of Russia; he served as chief physician of the Republican Clinical Hospital and as Minister of Health of North Ossetia-Alania.
Living in Toronto, Canada, are Kazbek Taimurazovich Butaev, head of a financial corporation, and Igor Telmanovich Butaev, chief designer at an aerospace corporation.
In London — Madina Konstantinovna Butaeva, a senior employee of Citibank.
In Toulouse (France) — Asya Arsenovna Butaeva, an employee of the Russian Embassy.
In Germany lives Oleg Savelyevich Butaev, an architect and publicist.
The Butaevs venerate the shrine of the Black Horseman (Sau baraejdy dzuar), located above the village of Byz.
Information about the Butaev family name comes from Feliks Gutnov's book "Ossetian Family Names."
Link: Feliks Gutnov. "Ossetian Family Names." ISBN 978-5-905066-04-7.