Valery Alekseyev, Russian anthropologist and author (d. 1991)
Valery Pavlovich Alekseyev (sometimes spelled as Alexeev) (Валерий Павлович Алексеев, 22 August 1929¨, Moscow – 7 November 1991) was a Russian anthropologist, director of the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow (1987–1991) and member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, exceptionally without having been a member of the Communist Party.
Alekseyev proposed Homo rudolfensis in 1986. In 2006 Russian Academy of Sciences established the Valery Alekseyev award for the outstanding achievements in anthropology and archaeology.Alekseyev died suddenly from thromboses in Moscow on 7 November 1991, aged 62.
The award winning popular science book on human evolution Who Asked the First Question? Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech (2006) is dedicated to the memory of Alekseyev and his lifelong friend, Georgian anthropologist Malkhaz Abdushelishvili.