Demetrius Cantemir
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Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir (, russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by
other spellings Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * The Other (1913 film), ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * The Oth ...
, was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant early Enlightenment figures. He twice served as
voivode of Moldavia This is a list of rulers of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united with Wallachia, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of Ro ...
(March–April 1693 and 1710–1711). During his second term he allied his state with Russia in a war against Moldavia's Ottoman overlords; Russia's defeat forced Cantemir's family into exile and the replacement of the native voivodes by Greek phanariots. Cantemir was also a prolific writer, variously a
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
, historian,
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer. His son Antioch, Russia's ambassador to Great Britain and France and a friend of Montesquieu and Voltaire, would become known as "the father of Russian poetry".


Name

Dimitrie is the
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
form of the name Latinized as Demetrius and, less often, anglicized as Demeter. The Russian form of his name was (). He is also known as ''Dimitri Kantemiroğlu'' in
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
contexts, ''Dymitr Kantemir'' in
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
, and ''Dēmētrios Kantimērēs'' () in Greek. His surname Cantemir (Kantemir) is of Turkic/Tatar origin, "kan" meaning "blood" and "temir" meaning "iron".


Life

Dimitrie was born in
Silişteni Dimitrie Cantemir (formerly ''Silișteni'') is a commune in Vaslui County, Western Moldavia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Eu ...
, Moldavia (now Vaslui County, Romania) on 26 October 1673 to
Constantin Cantemir Constantin or Constantine Cantemir (1612–1693) was a Moldavian nobleman, soldier, and statesman who served as voivode between 25 June 1685 and 27 March 1693. He established the Cantemir dynasty which—with interruptions—ruled Moldavia prior ...
and Ana Bantăș. His mother was a learned daughter of a local noble family. In 1685, Constantin was named voivode of Moldavia by its Turkish overlords. Although Constantin himself was illiterate, he educated his sons Dimitrie and Antioh thoroughly. Dimitrie learned Greek and Latin to read the
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
as a child. One of his tutors was the scholar
John Komnenos Molyvdos John Komnenos Molyvdos ( el, Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Μόλυβδος), also known by his monastic name Hierotheos (Ἱερόθεος) (1657-1719), was an Ottoman Greek scholar and physician, who later in life became a monk and Eastern Orth ...
. Between 1687 and 1710, Dimitrie spent most of his time as a hostage or envoy in Constantinople, living in the palace he owned, where he learned
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
and studied Ottoman history at the Patriarchate's Greek Academy. While there, he also
composed Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
Ottoman music. Upon Constantin's death in 1693, Dimitrie briefly succeeded him to the voivodeship but was passed over within three weeks in favor of
Constantin Duca Constantine Ducas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Δούκας, ''Kōnstantínos Doúkas''; ro, Constantin Duca), (? – 1704) son of George Ducas, was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between April 1693 and December 18, 1695 and September 12, 170 ...
, whose candidacy was supported by his father-in-law, the Wallachian voivode Constantin Brâncoveanu. When his brother Antioh eventually succeeded to the control of Moldavia, Dimitrie served as his envoy to the Porte. During these years, he also served with distinction in the Turkish army on its campaigns. In 1710, Dimitrie was appointed voivode in his own right. Believing Ottoman Turkey to be collapsing, he placed Moldavia under Russian control through a secret agreement signed at Lutsk. Then he joined
Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
in his war against the Turks. This ended in failure at
Stănilești Stănilești is a commune in Vaslui County, Western Moldavia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It bor ...
(18–22 July 1711) and the Cantemirs were forced into Russian exile. Turkey then replaced the voivodeship with the rule of Greek phanariots. In 1712, Peter I presented
Bogorodskoye District Bogorodskoye District (russian: Богородское райо́н) is an administrative district (raion) of Eastern Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of Moscow, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List ...
(Black Mud) to the former Moldavian ruler. In Russia, Dimitrie was created both a Russian prince (''
knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...
'') by Peter and a prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Charles VI. He lived on an estate at Dmitrovka near
Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
, with a sizable
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
retinue (including the chronicler
Ion Neculce Ion Neculce (1672–1745) was a Moldavian chronicler. His main work, ''Letopisețul Țărâi Moldovei e la Dabija Vodă până la a doua domnie a lui Constantin Mavrocordat' (''The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia Constantin Mavrocordat'') w ...
). There he died on 21 August 1723, on the very day he was awarded his German title. In 1935, his remains were returned to
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
.


Family

Cantemir was married twice: to Princess Kassandra
Cantacuzene The House of Kantakouzenos ( Kantakouzenoi; el, Καντακουζηνός, pl. Καντακουζηνοί), Latinized as Cantacuzenus and anglicized as Cantacuzene, was one of the most prominent Greek noble families of the Byzantine Empire in th ...
(1682–1713), daughter of Prince Șerban Cantacuzino and supposed descendant of the Byzantine Kantakouzenoi, in 1699, and to Princess
Anastasiya Trubetskaya Anastasija Ivanovna, Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Homburg and Princess Trubetskaya (russian: Анастасия Трубецкая; 1700-1755), was a Russian Imperial noblewoman, courtier, Princess of Moldavia and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. S ...
(1700–1755) in 1717.Cantemir's children were rather prominent in Russian history. His elder daughter Maria Cantemir (1700–1754) so attracted Peter the Great that he allegedly planned to divorce his wife Catherine to be with her. Upon Catherine's own ascension to the throne, however, Maria was forced to enter a convent. Cantemir's son Antioch (1708–1744) was the Russian ambassador at London and Paris, a friend of Voltaire and Montesquieu, and so influential a poet, satirist, and essayist as to be considered "the father of Russian poetry". Another son Constantin (1703–1747) was implicated in the Golitsyn conspiracy against the empress
Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
and was exiled to Siberia. Dimitrie's younger daughter Smaragda (1720–1761), reckoned one of the great beauties of her time, was the wife of Prince Dmitriy Mikhailovich Golitsyn and a friend of the empress Elizabeth.


Historical works

Cantemir was a polyglot known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages. Well versed in Oriental scholarship, his ''oeuvre'' is voluminous, diverse, and original, although some of his scientific writings contain unconfirmed theories or simple inaccuracies. Between 1711 and 1719 he wrote his most important creations. In 1714, he was named a member of the
Royal Academy of Berlin The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
. Cantemir's best-known history work was his ''
History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
'' (the original title was in Latin, ''Historia incrementorum atque decrementorum Aulae Othomanicae''). This volume circulated throughout Europe in manuscript for a number of years. It was finally printed in 1734 in London and was later translated and printed in Germany and France. It remained the seminal work on the Ottoman Empire up to the middle of the 19th century; notably, it was used as a reference for Edward Gibbon's own '' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''. Later scholarship contests many points owing to the dubiousness of some of Cantemir's sources. He also published the first critical history of Romania as a whole, the ''Chronicle of the Antiquity of the Romano-Moldavo-Wallachians'' ('), from 1719 to 1722. It asserted the Latin origin of the Romanian language and the Roman origin of the people living within the former land of Dacia. Cantemir composed his ''Description of Moldavia'' ( la, Descriptio Moldaviae) in 1714 at the request of the Royal Academy in Berlin. Covering geographical, ethnographical, and economic aspects of Moldavia, it was similarly circulated in manuscript and only published much later. It appeared in a German geographical magazine in 1769 and was published as a book in 1771. His manuscript map of Moldova was the first real map of the country, containing geographical detail as well as administrative information. Printed in 1737 in the Netherlands, it formed the basis of most European maps of the country for decades. His 1705 roman à clef ''A Hieroglyphic History'' was the first Romanian novel, representing the history of the Wallachian Brâncoveanu and
Cantacuzino The House of Cantacuzino (french: Cantacuzène) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifica ...
dynasties through allegorical and
mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
animals. He also wrote an introduction to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
for Europeans, a biography of Jan Baptist van Helmont, a philosophical treatise in Romanian and Greek, and an unfinished second treatise on the ''Undepictable Image of Sacred Science''. Due to his many esteemed works he won great renown at the high courts of Europe. His name is among those who were considered to be the brightest minds of the world on a plaque at the Library of Sainte-Genevieve in Paris, next to those of Leibniz,
Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...
, Piron, and other great thinkers.


Musical works

A few of Cantemir's roughly forty Ottoman compositions are still performed today as part of the Turkish repertoire, but his greatest service was in preserving 350 traditional instrumental pieces by publishing them in a musical notation he developed from the
Ottoman Turkish alphabet The Ottoman Turkish alphabet ( ota, الفبا, ') is a version of the Arabic script used to write Ottoman Turkish until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet. Though Ottoman Turkish was primarily written in thi ...
in his work ''Edvar-i Musiki'', offered as a present to Sultan Ahmed III in 1703 or 1704 and recently reprinted with modern explanations. In 1999, the Bezmara ensemble recorded ''Yitik Sesin Peşinde'' ("In Search of the Lost Sound") from the Cantemir transcriptions using period instruments. His compositions, those of his European contemporaries and Moldavian folk music of the period were explored on ''Cantemir'' (Golden Horn Records, 2000) performed by
İhsan Özgen Ihsan (also transliterated as Ehsan; Arabic, Persian and ur, إحسان or , ku, ئیحسان) is an Arabic masculine given name. Given name ; Ihsan * İhsan Oktay Anar (born 1960), Turkish writer * İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil (1908–1993), ...
and the Lux Musica ensemble under
Linda Burman-Hall Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...
's direction. Seven of Cantemir's compositions were also featured on
Hespèrion XXI Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Catalan musical director Jordi Savall (bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), his wife Montserrat ...
's 2009 ''Istanbul'', under the direction of
Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...
, with focus on Cantemir's “Book of the Science of Music”.


Istanbul Museum

One of the houses inhabited by Dimitrie Cantemir during his exile in Constantinople was restored and opened as a museum in 2007. It lies in Fener quarter of the walled city between Phanar College and the Golden Horn.


See also

*
Cantemir dynasty Cantemir or Kantemir may refer to: People * Moldavia's Cantemirești dynasty: **Antioh Cantemir (1670-1726), son of Constantin Cantemir, Voivode of Moldavia **Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir (1708-1744), son of Dimitrie Cantemir, man of letters and ...


Notes


References

* * * * * *


External links


Greek Turkish friendship through music
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantemir, Dimitrie 1673 births 1723 deaths People from Vaslui County 18th-century Latin-language writers 18th-century male writers
Dimitrie Dimitrie is the Romanian form of a Slavic given name. Notable persons with that name include: ;First name * Dimitrie Alexandresco (1850–1925), Romanian encyclopedist * Dimitrie Anghel (1872–1914), Romanian poet * Dimitri Atanasescu (1836–1907 ...
Enlightenment philosophers Romanian nobility Politicians of the Russian Empire Early Modern Romanian writers Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Composers from the Ottoman Empire Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music Romanian composers 18th-century Romanian historians Linguists from Romania Romanian orientalists Romanian philosophers Princes of the Holy Roman Empire Rulers of Moldavia 17th-century Romanian people Romanian cartographers Romanian people of Crimean Tatar descent Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)