Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov (b.1922 — d. March 31 1999) was a Russian linguist, epigrapher and ethnographer, who is reknowned for the pivotal role his research played in the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics.

As a young man, Knorosov served in the Red Army during World War II as an artillery spotter. He took part in the final push into Berlin during May, 1945. During this exercise, he and his unit passed by the National Library as it was being consumed in a blaze. Knorosov managed to retrieve from the building a one-volume edition containing copies of the three Maya codices which were then known. He later said that this chance discovery piquéd his later lifelong interest in the subject area.

After the war, Knorosov enrolled at the Russian Institute of Ethnography in Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) to study ancient languages, specialising in comparative linguistics.

Knorosov died in St. Petersburg on March 31, 1999.