Semen Semenovich Abamelik-Lazarev in his parlour

Prince Semyon Semyonovich Abamelek-Lazarev (also ''Abamelik-Lazaryan''; Russian: Семён Семёнович Абамелек-Лазарев; 24 November 1857 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

– 2 October 1916 in

Kislovodsk Kislovodsk (russian: Кислово́дск, lit. ''sour waters''; ; krc, Ачысуу) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas. Population: History I ...

) was a Russian millionaire of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n origin noted for his contributions to archaeology and geology. His father Prince Simeon Abamelik was a

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the Russian army and an amateur painter. He married his first cousin Elizaveta Lazareva, the last of her family and the heiress to an enormous fortune. She was the granddaughter of

Manuc Bei Manuc Bey (the common Romanian rendering of ''Manuk Bey'', the Armenian name of Emanuel Mârzayan; 1769–1817) was an Armenian merchant, diplomat and inn-keeper. Life He was born in Rousse (modern Ruse, Bulgaria) as a subject of the Ottom ...

and the grand-niece of Count Ivan Lazarev (a court banker to

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

). Prince Semyon inherited her

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

s in the Urals, her surname and the right to manage 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 ...

. After attending the Saint-Petersburg University, Abamelik-Lazarev joined

Vasily Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (Russian: Васи́лий Дми́триевич Поле́нов; 1 June 1844 – 18 July 1927) was a Russian landscape painter associated with the Peredvizhniki movement of realist artists. His contemporaries would ca ...

and

Adrian Prakhov Adrian Victorovich Prakhov (russian: Адриан Викторович Прахов; 16 March 1846, Mstislavl, Russian Empire - 14 May 1916, Yalta, Russian Empire) was a Russians, Russian art critic, archaeologist and art historian. Biography ...

in their 1881 tour across the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. He took part in excavating the site of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

and discovered the so-called "Palmyrene tariff" — a large slab with an inscription in Greek and Aramaic listing ancient customs rules. He also financed the excavations at

Jerash Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...

. A patron and member of the Russian Geographical Society, he published two lavishly decorated volumes about Palmyra (1884) and Jerash (1897). In 1897, Prince Abamelik married Princess Moina (Maria) Demidova (1877 — 1955), a daughter of the 2nd Prince of San Donato. Soon they bought a villa on the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; it, Gianicolo ), occasionally the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among th ...

which has been known since then as Villa Abamelek. Semyon died suddenly in 1916 and was buried in the Lazarev family sepulchre at the

Smolensky Cemetery Smolensky Cemetery () is the oldest continuously operating cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

to Saint Petersburg. His widow continued to live at the

Villa di Pratolino The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna. History Th ...

near

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

until her death in 1955. The Villa Abamelek was given by the Italian government to the Soviet embassy in 1948. It serves as the official residence of the Russian ambassador to Italy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abamelik-Lazarev, Semyon Armenian people from the Russian Empire Heads of schools in the Russian Empire Archaeologists from the Russian Empire 1857 births 1916 deaths Semyon Semyonovich Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Businesspeople from the Russian Empire Aviation history of Russia