Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Васи́льев; 4 October 1867 (
N.S.) – 30 May 1953) was considered the foremost authority on
Byzantine history
This history of the Byzantine Empire covers the history of the Eastern Roman Empire from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the transitional period during which the Roman ...
and culture in the mid-20th century. His ''History of the Byzantine Empire'' (vol. 1–2, 1928) remains one of a few comprehensive accounts of the entire Byzantine history, on the par with those authored by
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
and
Fyodor Uspensky
Fyodor Ivanovich Uspensky or Uspenskij (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Успе́нский ) was a Russian Empire and Soviet Byzantinist. His works are considered to be among the finest illustrations of the flowering of Byzantine studie ...
.
Vasiliev was born in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. He studied under one of the earliest professional Byzantinists,
Vasily Vasilievsky
Vasily Grigorievich Vasilievsky (also spelled ''Vasiljevskij'' and ''Wasiliewski''; russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич Василье́вский) was a Russian historian who founded the St. Petersburg school of medieval studies and ...
, at the
University of St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
and later taught
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
there. Between 1897 and 1900, he furthered his education in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. In 1902, he accompanied
Nicholas Marr
Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (, ''Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr''; , ''Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari''; — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking o ...
in his trip to
Saint Catherine's Monastery
Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...
in
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
.
During his stay at the
Tartu University
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
(1904–12), Vasiliev prepared and published a highly influential monograph, ''Byzantium and the Arabs'' (1907). He also worked in the
Russian Archaeology Institute, established by Fyodor Uspensky in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. In 1912, he moved to the St Petersburg University as a professor. He was elected to the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
in 1919.
In 1925, during his visit to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Vasiliev was persuaded by
Mikhail Rostovtsev
Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Росто́вцев; – October 20, 1952), was a Russian historian whose career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and who produced important works o ...
to emigrate to the West. It was Rostovtzeff who ensured a position at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
for him.
Several decades later, Vasiliev moved to work in
Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, M ...
. Towards the end of his life, he was elected President of the
Nikodim Kondakov
Nikodim (or Nikodeme) Pavlovich Kondakov (russian: Никоди́м Па́влович Кондако́в; 1 (13) November 1844, Olshanka, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire– 17 February 1925, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was an art ...
Institute in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and of the ''
Association Internationale des Études Byzantines International Association of Byzantine Studies (french: Association Internationale des Études Byzantines, AIEB) was launched in 1948. It is an international co-ordinating body that links national Byzantine Studies member groups.
Background and A ...
''.
Bibliography
*''Slavs in Greece'' (1898)
*''The Latin Sway in the Levant'' (1923)
*''History of the Byzantine Empire: Vol. 1: Constantine to the Crusades'' (1925 Russian; 1929 & many more English)
*''History of the Byzantine Empire: Vol. 2: From the Crusades to the Fall of the Empire'' (1935 & many more)
*''Byzantium and the Arabs, Vol. 1: Political relations between Byzantines and Arabs during the Amorian Dynasty''
1900 Russian 1935 and 1950 French, as ''Byzance et les Arabes, Tome I: La Dynastie d'Amorium (820–867)'')
*''Byzantium and the Arabs, Vol. 2: Political relations between Byzantines and Arabs during the Macedonian Dynasty''
1935 and 1950/1968 French, as ''Byzance et les Arabes, Tome II: La dynastie macédonienne (867–959), in two parts)
*''The Goths in the Crimea'' (1936)
*"The Opening Stages of the Anglo-Saxon Immigration to Byzantium in the Eleventh Century" in ''Seminarium Kondakovianum'' (1937)
*''The Russian Attack on Constantinople in 860'' (1946)
*''The 'Life' of St. Peter of Argos and its Historical Significance'' (1947)
*''The monument of Porphyrius in the Hippodrome at Constantinople'' (1948, 1967)
*''Imperial Porphyry Sarcophagi in Constantinople'' (1949)
*"The Historical Significance Of the Mosaic of Saint Demetrius at Sassoferrato", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', 5 (1950) p. 29-39
*''Justin, the First: An Introduction to the Epoch of Justinian the Great'' (1950)
*''The Second Russian Attack on Constantinople'' (1951, 1967)
*''Hugh Capet Of France And Byzantium'' (1951)
*''The Iconoclastic Edict of the Caliph Yazid II, A. D. 721'' (1956, 1967)
*''A Survey of Works on Byzantine History''
*''The Life of St. Theodore of Edessa''
*''Medieval Ideas of the End of the World: West and East''
*''Prester John and Russia'' (1996, ed. W. F. Ryan)
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasiliev, Alexander
American Byzantinists
Byzantinists from the Russian Empire
Soviet defectors
Soviet emigrants to the United States
Expatriates from the Russian Empire in France
1867 births
1953 deaths
Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)
Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America
Foreign members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Soviet historians
Historians from the Russian Empire
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Historians of Byzantine art
Scholars of Byzantine history
20th-century American male writers
Residents of the Benois House