Nicholas Adontz (, ''Nikoghayos Adonts’'', also spelled Adonts; ; January 10, 1871 – January 27, 1942) was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, specialist of
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and
Armenian studies
Armenian studies or Armenology ( hy, հայագիտություն, ) is a field of humanities covering Armenian history, language and culture. The emergence of modern Armenian studies is associated with the foundation of the Catholic Mechitarist ...
, and
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
.
[ Yuzbashyan, Karen. s.v. Adonts', Nikoghayos Gevorki. ]Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( hy, Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) publishing house was established in 1967 as a department of the Institute of History of the Armeni ...
. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա, ՀՀ ԳԱԱ, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri az ...
, 1974, vol. 1, p. 77. Adontz was the author of ''Armenia in the Period of Justinian'', a highly influential work and landmark study on the social and political structures of
early Medieval Armenia.
Biography
Early life
Adontz was born Nikoghayos Ter-Avetikian () in the village of
Brnakot
Brnakot ( hy, Բռնակոթ) is a village in the Sisian Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The ...
in
Sisian
Sisian ( hy, Սիսիան) is a town and the centre of the urban community of Sisian, in the Syunik Province in southern Armenia. It is located on the Vorotan River, 6 km south of the Yerevan-Meghri highway, at a road distance of 217 km southeast ...
, which was then part of the Zangezur ''
uezd
An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...
'' of the
Elisabethpol Governorate
The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...
(modern
Syunik). His family traced its roots to an eighteenth-century Armenian military figure and close ally of
David Bek
Davit Bek or David Beg (; died 1728) was an Armenian military commander and the leader of an Armenian rebellion against invading Ottoman forces and implanted Safavid Muslim tribes in the mountainous region of Zangezur (today the Armenian provin ...
named Ter-Avetik.
[ Yuzbashyan, Karen. "Nikoghayos Adonts'i gitakan zharangut'yune" ]he intellectual legacy of Nikoghayos Adonts
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
''Patma-Banasirakan Handes
''Patma-Banasirakan Handes'' ( hy, Պատմա-Բանասիրական Հանդես (ՊԲՀ, ''PBH''); russian: Историко-филологический журнал, ''Istoriko-Filologicheskii Zhurnal''; "Historical-Philological Journal") is a ...
'' 4 (1962): pp. 115-128. He attended a parochial school in
Tatev
The Tatev Monastery ( hy, Տաթևի վանք, Tat'evi vank') is a 9th-century Armenian Apostolic monastery located on a large basalt plateau near the village of Tatev in the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. The term "Tatev" usually refe ...
and later studied at the
Gevorkian Theological Seminary
Gevorkian Theological Seminary ( hy, Գևորգյան Հոգևոր Ճեմարան ''Gevorkyan Hogevor Č̣emaran''), also known as Gevorkian Seminary ( hy, Գևրգյան Ճեմարան ''Gevorkyan Č̣emaran'', ), is a theological university-ins ...
in
Echmiadzin
Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...
and the Russian ''
gymnasium'' in
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
(1892–1894).
Adontz was accepted to the
University of St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a de ...
and studied at the Departments of Oriental Languages and History and Philology under the general direction of the renowned historian and linguist
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 ...
. He learned Latin and Greek and graduated with honors in 1899. Following this, Adontz accompanied Marr to Europe (Munich, Paris, London and Vienna) and the two worked together in the area of Byzantine studies until 1901.
In 1903, Adontz returned to the Caucasus, learning
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
and later working at the manuscript repository in Echmiadzin.
Graduate studies
Adontz wrote and defended his
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
on "Armenia in the Period of Justinian" in 1908. Adontz was appointed as the private-assistant professor at the University of St. Petersburg in 1909. He received his doctorate and the title of professor after defending his dissertation, entitled "Dionysius of Thrace and his Armenian Commentaries," in 1916. In that same year, with archaeologist
Ashkharbek Kalantar
Ashkharbek Kalantar ( hy, Աշխարհբեկ Լոռիս-Մելիք Քալանթար; February 11, 1884, in Ardvi, Armenia – June 1942) archaeologist and historian, played an important role in founding of archaeology in Armenia.
Born into the ...
, he participated in the second
Van archaeological expedition organized by
Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences. One year later, he was appointed honorary trustee and professor at the
Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages
The Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, ( hy, Լազարևի արևելյան լեզուների ինստիտուտ) established in 1815, was a school specializing in orientalism, with a particular focus on that of Armenia, and was the princi ...
in Moscow.
Later life
In 1920, Adontz left Russia and moved to London and then Paris. Adontz was invited to deliver lectures at the
University of Brussels in 1930 and was appointed to the position of the head of the newly-created Department of Armenian Studies. During the Second World War, after Belgium's occupation by the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
and after Adontz and the other professors refused their orders to work at another institute, the University of Brussels was shut down. Left with no salary, Adontz willed his work to Belgium's small Armenian community, dying shortly thereafter in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on January 27, 1942.
Academic work
Adontz left more than 80 monographs on the history and literature of Medieval Armenia, Armenian-Byzantine relations, Armenian-Greek philology, mythology, religion, linguistics in the Armenian, Russian and French languages.
He published his first scholarly article in the journal ''
Handes Amsorya
''Handes Amsorya'' (, Monthly Review) is an academic journal that publishes research papers and articles on Armenian studies, especially history, art, social sciences, linguistics, and philology. It was established in 1887 by the Mechitarian order ...
'' in 1901. Some of his other notable works include ''The Peasantry of Ancient Armenia'', ''The Art of Dionysius Grammarian and his Armenian Interpretations'', and ''Political Parties in Ancient Armenia''. His ''Armenia in the Period of Justinian'' (in Russian, ''Armeniia v epokhu Iustiniana: Politicheskoe sostoianie na osnove Nakhararskogo stroia''), based on his dissertation, however, is considered to be the most notable and one of the "most important achievements in Armenian studies of the 20th century."
In 1970, it was published in English by Byzantine historian Nina G. Garsoïan. In another notable work, ''
Mashtots and his Students According to Foreign Sources'', Adontz placed the date of the creation of the
Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet ( hy, Հայոց գրեր, ' or , ') is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian language, Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and wikt:ecclesiastical, ecclesiast ...
by its founder,
Mesrob Mashtots, to the years 382–392 A.D., approximately 20 years prior to the traditional given date (405).
In a stark departure from his studies on ancient and medieval Armenian history, Adontz took a vested interest in the history of the
Armenian Question in the immediate years following the end of the First World War and published a number of works.
[ Diloyan, Valter. s.v "Adontz, Nikoghayos," Encyclopedia of the Armenian Question. Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press, 1996, p. 10.] These included two booklets published in English in 1918, ''The Historical Basis of the Armenian Question and the Fall of Turkey'' and ''The Dismemberment of Turkey''; two works published in Russian in the same year, ''Turkey's Note and Western Armenia'' and ''The Armenian Question and German Plans''; and ''The Armenian Question at
Sèvres
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for i ...
'', which was published in English in 1920.
He accused Western Europe for taking advantage of the Armenians' plight in the Ottoman Empire in order to increase their own influence in the region. Adontz also condemned
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
for signing the 1918
Treaty of Brest Litovsk, which effectively left the once-Armenian-populated regions within the borders of the Ottoman Empire.
Selected publications
* ''Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares''. Bruxelles, Palais des academies, 1938, 63 p. Published also in: ''Etudes Armeno-Byzantines''. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Distributor: Livraria Bertrand. Lisbonne, 1965.
* ''Histoire d'Arménie, les origines du X-e siècle au vie (av. J.C.)''. Préf. de René Grousset. Paris, 1946.
*
Armenia in the Period of Justinian: the Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System'. Translated with partial revisions, a bibliographical note, and appendices by Nina G. Garsoïan. Lisbon, 1970.
* ''Denys de Thrace et les commentateurs arméniens''. Lisbon, 1970.
*''Mashtots and his Students According to Foreign Sources''. 1925.
*''Towards the Solution to the Armenian Question''. London, 1920.
Notes
Further reading
*Adalian, Rouben. "Nicholas Adontz: The Quest for a Rational History," Ph.D. Dissertation,
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, 1987.
*Ishkhan, Mushegh. "Professor Nicholas Adontz: Remembrance and Impressions," ''
Armenian Review
''The Armenian Review'' is an academic journal that has been published in Watertown, Massachusetts since 1948. It publishes articles on topics related to Armenia and Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group ...
'' 39 (1986): pp. 55–80.
External links
*
A detailed biography by ArmenianHouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adontz, Nicholas
1871 births
1942 deaths
People from Syunik Province
People from Elizavetpol Governorate
Armenian people from the Russian Empire
Ethnic Armenian historians
Byzantinists from the Russian Empire
Armenian studies scholars
Medievalists from the Russian Empire
Historians from the Russian Empire
Soviet emigrants to Belgium
Scholars of Byzantine history