This section brings together interesting materials and links about Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev and his family.

Family Tree

Download PDF

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev was born in the town of Alagir, into the family of Mikhail (Mamsyr) Butaev and Ekaterina Butaeva. He enrolled at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, graduating with honours in 1939 with a degree in "Power Stations and Networks." Even while still a student, in 1937 he was invited to work as an engineer at the "Krasnaya Zvezda" ("Red Star") power plant in Baku, where power-line failures were frequent. Georgiy Butaev proposed a number of technical improvements, after which the failures stopped.

After graduating from the institute, Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev was invited to work as an engineer at the Tuapse thermal power plant, later becoming deputy chief engineer for the electrical section. Around the same time he enrolled in the fourth year of the radio engineering faculty of the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Communications. In June 1941 Georgiy Mikhailovich graduated from the radio engineering faculty of VZIS and was recommended for postgraduate study.

From the first days of the war he served in the active army: platoon commander of a radio unit, chief of reconnaissance of a battalion, battery commander, chief of staff of a regiment, chief of staff of an artillery group.

Georgiy Mikhailovich's combat path took him through the fighting near Kharkiv in 1941, near Stalingrad in 1942, and on the Central Front near Oryol.

In 1943, in the Oryol-Kursk battle, Butaev was shell-shocked and severely wounded by shrapnel in the arm and leg. Military surgeons managed to save the brave captain's arm and leg, but he was discharged on every count. Georgiy Mikhailovich became a disabled veteran of the Great Patriotic War.

For his courage and valour, and for his skilful command of military units, Guards Captain Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and many medals.

From July 1944 Georgiy was an instructor at the North Ossetian regional party committee, then went on to postgraduate study at the Moscow Institute of Automation and Telemechanics. In 1954 Georgiy Butaev moved to Kharkiv, where he worked for six years at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute. Afterward he worked at the North Caucasus Institute of Mining and Metallurgy — as the first dean of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and the first head of the Department of Industrial Electronics. At SKGMI, Georgiy Butaev is remembered as a wonderful teacher and a pioneer of teaching electronics specialisations.

He retired holding a Doctor of Technical Sciences degree, the title of professor, and the title of Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation and of North Ossetia-Alania.

And Where Is That Height, 131.7?

From 6 to 13 December 1942, fighting took place there for which my father was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Four tanks and a company of infantry. That statistic means nothing to me. Whether it is a lot or a little. And whether two or three enemy attacks a day is a lot or a little.

The dry lines of the award citations: "Submachine gunners approached the battery to within 200 metres. In these difficult moments Comrade Butaev commanded the battery, never leaving it for a single minute." I try to picture those 200 metres. The submachine gunners must already have been clearly visible.

And you had to fire the guns, your job was to cover the others with fire.

But even earlier — on 16 August 1942 — there was an Order of the Red Star for the crossing at Nizhne-Akatov.

Four tanks, two companies of infantry, two mortar batteries.

Dry figures. Filled with nothing. Papa never talked about the war. I saw his scars. I knew he had been an artillery captain.

Only once did he tell me something, but that conversation wasn't about the war. I was already a student, and we were discussing something to do with exams.

I remember that conversation — how his battery had dug in on a suitable rise, preparing for battle. But something wouldn't let him rest easy. He ordered the battery moved and dug in at a different position. And the next day, the place where they had originally been stationed was levelled by the Germans.

Whether you lived or died depended not only on circumstance or courage.

For the fact that I am writing these lines today, I have to thank my father for his intuition. And that memory stays with me. I don't need orchestras or flags. When I think of heroism, I picture those 200 metres that separated him from death.

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev, "Severnaya Osetiya" Newspaper, 1995

A Man's Fate

The same man looks out at us from these two photographs, between which stretches the relentless span of five decades. This year Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev marks two anniversaries. One belongs to the Motherland and to him — a former frontline soldier; the other belongs to him and to the Motherland — his 80th birthday, in which his entire adult life, all his scientific search and strength, were given to the Fatherland. Colleagues call him "the patriarch of electronics." A grateful Motherland calls him a war veteran.

Georgiy Mikhailovich's homeland is Alagir, nestled in greenery amid snow-white mountains. After finishing secondary school Georgiy went to study at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, graduating in 1939. But his thirst for knowledge was not satisfied, and, successfully passing another set of entrance exams, he enrolled in the fourth year of the radio engineering faculty of the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Communications. In 1941 he was recommended for postgraduate study. But then — the war began.

...Spring of '42. The village of Nepokrytoye, near Kharkiv. An order arrived: hold the Kharkiv highway, for it was here that a fascist landing of 70 tanks and motorised infantry was expected. Quickly, following every rule of defence, firing positions were prepared. And then, from the forward observation post, came word: "Tanks! Many tanks!" Through binoculars you could see: tanks like ants. They advanced, an unstoppable clanking armada, closer and closer. Fire could not yet be opened, so as not to reveal their positions ahead of time. When they had closed to 400 metres, the command rang out along the battery: "Begin!" The attack turned a patch of that land into hell, from sky and earth alike. In the distance, tanks were already crushing the guns and personnel of the first battery. They pressed ever closer through the black smoke, and now one was spinning in place, its track blown off, blocking the road. The tanks behind crawled into the ones in front; tanks burned. The German column turned off the road and swung right, to strike from the rear. To avoid encirclement, our infantry abandoned their positions, and the surviving batteries withdrew. Only Georgiy Butaev's battalion remained, to cover the regiment's withdrawal.

The fascists were baffled by the stubborn resistance of a handful of brave men, but they did manage to seize the crossing at the edge of the village. Then Georgiy's men decided that, once darkness fell, they would quietly haul the guns to the crossing by hand, get the truck with the wounded and the first firing platoon across, and then, under their cover, get the rest across. The plan succeeded. But in that unequal battle the battalion commander, Georgiy Butaev, was severely wounded; his men, however, managed to pull him out from under fire and get him to the Balashov hospital.

After recovering he returned to the ranks. Then came Stalingrad. And a severe concussion in one of the street battles. His young body again managed to fend off death. Stalingrad was followed by the Oryol-Kursk battle.

For courage and valour, and unparalleled steadfastness and self-sacrifice in the name of Victory, Guards Captain Georgiy Butaev was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and several medals.

In 1946 Georgiy Mikhailovich entered postgraduate study at the Institute of Automation and Telemechanics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, after which he worked at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, heading a number of research laboratories. Under his leadership a unique piece of work was carried out at the time, one that was exhibited at the USSR's VDNKh exhibition centre. It was recommended for implementation across every enterprise in the industry.

Then in 1964, at the insistent request of the leadership of SKGMI, G. M. Butaev moved to Vladikavkaz and opened the Faculty of Electronic Engineering. In 1982 the USSR Ministry of Higher Education issued an order to open a Department of Electronic Devices at SKGMI. Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev became its first head. In 1985 G. M. Butaev successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, and a year later the USSR Higher Attestation Commission confirmed him in the academic rank of professor.

Butaev is a Personality in science. Your age, position, or character do not interest him. Ideas interest him. And one more thing: at 80 years old, the professor shows an absolute fearlessness of anything new, however improbable it may seem at first glance. What can one say? A young, greying head, weighed today by a single sorrow. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev wrote a book of inestimable scientific value, "A Course of Lectures on Mathematical Logic," and in the book's dedication he said quietly, from the heart: "To the boys who did not return from the war." To those who did not live long enough, did not finish their studies, did not finish reading. Did not love enough. Who vanished into Eternity, the Soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.

The book has been written. It has been typeset. But it will not appear in the anniversary year, as its author had dreamed. And, in all likelihood, it may never appear at all. The professor does not have the three million needed to print it. But the Teacher did what he had to do. And that is what matters most. Perhaps help will surely come, too, from someone patriotic, who believes in science, who believes in the flourishing of the republic thanks to its unique talents.

L. Akhmedova

In the photographs: Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev during the war years and on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Victory.

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev, Order of the Red Star, December 1942

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev, Order of the Red Star, August 1942

Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev, War Memories

The Butaevs (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.

Links

• Serving Science, the Fatherland, and the People. An article about Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev in the republican daily newspaper Severnaya Osetiya, 16.04.2021. (an archived copy — the original on sevosetia.ru has been lost)
• On the 77th Anniversary of Victory. Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev. Article on the BezFormata website, 12.05.2022.
• The Pride of Alagir. An article about Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev in the republican daily newspaper Severnaya Osetiya, 27.02.2024. (an archived copy — the original on sevosetia.ru has been lost)
• Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev. Pamyat Naroda ("Memory of the People").
• Feliks Gutnov. "Ossetian Family Names." ISBN 978-5-905066-04-7.