Robert H. Hewsen (May 20, 1934 – November 17, 2018) was an American historian and professor of history at Rowan University. He was an expert on the ancient history of the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. Hewsen is the author of ''Armenia: A Historical Atlas'' (2001), a major reference book, acclaimed as an important achievement in

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 ...

Biography

Hewsen was born Robert H. Hewsenian in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1934 to

Armenian American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians ...

parents. He spent seven years in Europe with the US Air Force and studying. He received his B.A. in history from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

and his Ph.D. from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

in 1967. The same year he joined the history department of Rowan University, where he taught

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

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-ei ...

n history for more than 30 years. After retiring from Rowan University in July 1999, Professor Hewsen lectured at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

and

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 Californ ...

. Professor Hewsen was also the co-founder and president of the Society for the Study of Caucasia.

Works

Hewsen wrote many books and articles on the history of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

, especially

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 ''O ...

. His seminal contribution to the field is ''Armenia: A Historical Atlas'' (2001). The book received wide critical acclaim. In his review Michael E. Stone wrote: "Robert Hewsen has prepared an ''opus magnum'' that has no rival in Armenian studies. This pioneering and largely definitive work is the best atlas of Armenia ever prepared." Merrill D. Peterson wrote that it "may by itself be considered a monument of American scholarship." Charles King wrote that the book is an "outstanding achievement not only as a geographical reference but also as a guide to the demographic and political history of the entire Caucasus."

Adam T. Smith Adam Thomas Smith is Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Anthropology at Cornell University. He is also co-founder (with Ruben Badalyan) of The American-Armenian Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasia ...

wrote of the ''Atlas'' as "an important milestone in the development of Armenian studies." Anthony Kaldellis stated that "For the historical geography of Armenia, the maps in Hewsen, Armenia, are invaluable." ;Books * * ;Book chapters * ;Articles * * *
Anatolia and Historical Concepts
// The California Institute for Ancient Studies, a Velikovskian site *''North Central Armenia, I: The Principality of Tayk.'' (Article, perhaps unpublished) Full text of Robert W. Edwards: ''The Vale of Kola: A Final Preliminary Report on the Marchlands of Northeast Turkey.''
– the following mention in the text: "''In his forthcoming article “North Central Armenia, I: The Principality of Tayk'” R. Hewsen accepts Adontz's identification (Armenia, 21 f, 68*) of Buxa in the Gahnamak with the gawat of Botxa in the Asxarhac‘oyc‘ to conclude that the Dimak‘seans controlled one of the three principalities of Tayk.''"

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewsen, Robert H. Armenian studies scholars American people of Armenian descent University of Maryland, College Park alumni Georgetown University alumni Rowan University faculty 1934 births 2018 deaths