The Pride of Alagir
A copy of the article from sevosetia.ru — the original is no longer available at the source; the text and photos were recovered from a Wayback Machine archived copy.
Among the natives of the Alagir district of whom their fellow countrymen are rightly proud are scientists who wrote bright pages in the history of the development of domestic science. They gave all their knowledge, strength, and energy so that science could take a step forward. In a single newspaper article it is hard to name everyone who worked in the sciences over the years: Kazbek BUTAEV, Georgiy KHETAGUROV, Fatima BUTAEVA, Agube KUCHIEV, Georgiy GABUEV, Boris KALOEV, Yuri KODZAEV, Evdokia TSOGOEVA, Fatima KHETAGUROVA, Sandro GOZYUMOV… The names of these and other scientists — natives of the Alagir district — are known far beyond the borders of North Ossetia.
At the state institution "North Caucasus Technical College of Mechanisation, Automation of Forestry, and Management," an evening of remembrance was held, prepared by Laura Kasimova, a librarian at Alagir City Library No. 1. She told the guests about scientists of different generations and about the Butaev family, who made a colossal contribution to the development of domestic science, urban planning, and education.
...The residents of Alagir, Mikhail and Ekaterina Butaev, raised three children. Their eldest daughter, Tamara, enrolled after school in the architecture faculty of the Baku Polytechnic Institute. After graduating from university in 1936, she was assigned to North Ossetia, to a design institute, where she worked for more than 60 years, rising from a rank-and-file architect to chief engineer of the institute. Before the war, a House of Culture and administrative buildings were built to Tamara Mikhailovna's designs in the settlement of Sadon in the Alagir district. She had great plans, but all of them were cut short by the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. Only in the 1950s did Tamara Butaeva's ideas begin to be realised. Built to her designs were the "Kavkaz" hotel (1949), the North Ossetian Opera and Ballet Theatre (1956), the Vladikavkaz television centre with its 196-metre tower (1959), the "Spartak" stadium (1960-1962), the main building of the Gorsky Agricultural Institute (now GGAU), and other buildings in a number of cities across the North Caucasus. In 1974 she was awarded the title "Honoured Architect of the RSFSR." For her fruitful creative work Tamara Mikhailovna was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour.
Boris Mikhailovich Butaev, after graduating from the North Ossetian State Medical Institute and completing postgraduate study in Leningrad, headed the Department of Pharmacology for a number of years, later becoming dean of the medical faculty of the North Ossetian State Medical Institute. Boris Butaev held a candidate of sciences degree and was an associate professor. This talented scientist developed several new medications. For his unimpeachable honesty, his uncompromising nature, and his decency, he was held in great respect and esteem among his colleagues and students.
Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev stood out among his peers for his thirst for knowledge. In 1939 he graduated from the M. Azizbekov Azerbaijan Industrial Institute and enrolled directly into the fourth year of the radio engineering faculty of the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Communications. Before the war Georgiy Butaev had already worked in the cities of Tuapse and Grozny. He wanted to continue on to postgraduate study, but the war cut short all his plans. Georgiy Mikhailovich held an exemption from military service, but despite this he volunteered for the front. He took part in heavy fighting near Kharkiv and in the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. After being severely wounded he was discharged due to disability. Returning to North Ossetia, despite his injury, Georgiy Mikhailovich immediately went to work as an electrical engineer. In 1946 he entered postgraduate study at the Institute of Automation and Telemechanics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1953 he defended his candidate dissertation, and in 1985 his doctoral dissertation. Until 1965 G. M. Butaev worked in Moscow, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities of the Soviet Union. In 1964 the leadership of SKGMI asked him to organise a Faculty of Electronic Engineering. Georgiy Mikhailovich came to his homeland right away, and thanks to his titanic efforts the Faculty of Electronic Engineering opened in a comparatively short time, already by November 1964. G. M. Butaev was dean of this faculty, and later became head of the new Department of Industrial Electronics.
In 1980 G. M. Butaev created and headed the Department of Electronic Devices. He is the author of 100 scientific works, including textbooks and teaching aids. He holds 25 inventor's certificates. Through his scientific work and his organisational activity, Georgiy Mikhailovich paved the way for the development of the electronics industry in the republic. For his outstanding service in scientific and pedagogical work and in training highly qualified engineers and research personnel, Georgiy Mikhailovich was awarded the title "Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of the North Ossetian ASSR and of the Russian Federation."
Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev's wife, Zoya Mironovna Salagaeva, was also a remarkable person. She worked for more than 60 years in the Department of Russian Literature at North Ossetian State University. Zoya Mironovna held a doctorate in philology, was a professor, and authored more than 100 scholarly works, including four monographs on the history of Ossetian literature. For her fruitful pedagogical and scholarly work Zoya Mironovna was honoured with many awards and titles, among them "Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of North Ossetia-Alania" and "Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation," as well as "Honoured Worker of Higher Education."
Following in her parents' footsteps was Fatima Georgievna Butaeva. She currently works as a senior researcher at the North Ossetian Nature Reserve. She holds a candidate of biological sciences degree (as a zoologist) and is an associate professor. Fatima Georgievna combined scientific work with teaching, working for more than 20 years at North Ossetian State University in the Department of Human and Animal Anatomy and Physiology, and also taught a number of biology-related disciplines. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation.
"Every member of the Butaev family is a brilliant representative of the Ossetian intelligentsia, an example of service to science," Laura Kasimova said in closing. "They dedicated their fruitful pedagogical and creative work, their scholarly discoveries and achievements, to the Fatherland and to the people."
Memories of Georgiy Mikhailovich Butaev and Zoya Mironovna Salagaeva were shared by their former students and by representatives of the family and the community. Every speech expressed gratitude for their selfless work in the name of scientific progress, for their dedication and devotion to their calling. And Fatima Georgievna Butaeva addressed the college students in the hall with these words: "It is very important for every person to find work they want to devote themselves to entirely. I am confident that a big and interesting professional life lies ahead of you. Perhaps you will find your calling in scientific work. The main thing is to love what you do."
