Ivan Chopin (russian: Иван Иванович Шопен; 1798 - 15 August 1870) was a historian, ethnographer and statesman of French origin.

History

Ivan Chopin was born in 1798 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and lived there till 1820s. The circumstances of his birth and upbringing are unknown. In the mid-1820s, he came to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, where he took the name of Ivan Ivanovich, and remained for a long time in the

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

civil service. In 1829 he was instructed by the Governor of the Caucasus Paskevich to make the description of the newly conquered territories of Eastern Armenia. From 1829 till 1832 Chopin was engaged in a detailed study of the

Erivan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

and

Nakhichevan khanate The Nakhichevan Khanate ( fa, خانات نخجوان, translit=Khānāt-e Nakhchevān; Azerbaijani:ناخچیوان خانلیغی,Naxçıvan xanlığı; hy, Նախիջեւանի խանութիւն, translit=Naxijewani xanowt'iwn) was a khanate ...

, which by

Treaty of Turkmenchay The Treaty of Turkmenchay ( fa, عهدنامه ترکمنچای; russian: Туркманчайский договор) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–28). It was second ...

in 1828 were given to the Russian Empire and were named as the

Armenian Oblast The Armenian Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire that existed from 1828 to 1840. It corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, and the Nakhchivan excla ...

. Collecting material for future books, Ivan met with people of different ethnical origin, observed their customs and culture. In 1830 Chopin was appointed as advisor of the Armenian regional government, in 1833 he was chairman of the Department of Revenue and the state-owned property of the

, and after - an official for special assignments Chief Commander of the Transcaucasian region.

Literature

* Алибекова Э. Б. — Вопросы древней истории Азербайджана в российской историографии XIX — начала XX вв. Баку, 2009. Demidov Prize laureates Historians from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire 1798 births 1870 deaths People from the Russian Empire of French descent {{Russia-historian-stub