Mikhail Vladimirovich Alpatov (Russian: Михаил Владимирович Алпатов; 10 December 1902 – 9 May 1986) was a Soviet historian and art theorist, notable for his contribution to the history of the culture of ancient Rus.

[1] Alpatov graduated from Moscow State University, where he studied the history of arts from 1919 and 1921.

In 1943 he became a professor at the Surikov State Institute of Arts, also in Moscow.

[1] Beginning in the 1920s, Alpatov was primarily engaged in researching the culture and art of the Byzantine Empire and of ancient Rus.

Later, he also turned to the Renaissance, and to the general theory of culture.