Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev (also Gumilyov; ; – 15 June 1992) was a Soviet and Russian
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 species; as well as the ...
,
ethnologist
Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology).
Scien ...
,
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
and
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
. He had a reputation for his highly unorthodox theories of
ethnogenesis
Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification.
The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
and
historiosophy. He was an exponent of
Eurasianism
Eurasianism ( ) is a Political sociology, socio-political movement in Russia that emerged in the early 20th century under the Russian Empire, which states that Russia does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the Geop ...
.
Life
Gumilev's parents, the prominent poets
Nikolai Gumilev and
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...
, divorced when he was 7 years old and his father was executed by the
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...
when he was just 9. Gumilev spent much of his adulthood, from 1938 until 1956, in
Soviet labor camps. He was arrested by the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
in 1935 and released, but rearrested and sentenced to five years in 1938.
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school.
Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...
's "
Stalin Epigram" is said to have played a role in his arrest. After release, he joined the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and took part in the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula–Od ...
of 1945. However, he was arrested again in 1949 and sentenced to ten years in prison camps. Aiming to secure his freedom, Akhmatova published a
dithyramb
The dithyramb (; , ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in '' The Laws'', while discussing various kinds of music m ...
to
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, which did not help to release Gumilev, although it possibly prevented her own imprisonment. The
Soviet secret police
There were a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The Okhrana was abolished by the Provisional government after the first revolution of 1917, and the first secret police after the October Revolution, created by Vladimir Leni ...
had already prepared an order for her arrest, but Stalin decided not to sign it. Relations between Gumilev and his mother became strained, as he blamed her for not helping him enough. She described her feelings about her son's arrest and the period of political repressions in
''Requiem'' (published in 1963).
After Stalin's death in 1953, Gumilev joined the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
, whose director,
Mikhail Artamonov, he would accept as his mentor. Under Artamonov's guidance, he became interested in
Khazar
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...
studies and in steppe peoples in general. In the 1950s and 1960s, he participated in several expeditions to the
Volga Delta
The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the ...
and to the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
. He proposed an archeological site for
Samandar as well as the theory of the Caspian transgression in collaboration with geologist Alexander Aleksin as one of the reasons for Khazar decline. In 1960, he started delivering lectures at
Leningrad University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the uni ...
. Two years later, he defended his doctoral thesis on ancient
Turks. From the 1960s, he worked in the Geography Institute, where he would defend another doctoral thesis, this time in geography.
Although the official Soviet authorities rejected his ideas and banned most of his monographs from being published, Gumilev came to attract much publicity, especially in the
Perestroika
''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
years of 1985–1991. As an indication of his popularity, the
Kazakh president
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...
ordered the
L. N. Gumilev Eurasian National University (Евразийский Национальный университет имени Л. Н. Гумилёва, founded in 1996) to be erected just opposite his own palace on the central square of the new Kazakh capital,
Astana
Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
.
Ideas
Senior researcher in the Department of Ethnology at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. , Aimar Ventsel, states the following:
Gumilev theorized that a group of people living in a single place and with a specific way of life and historical experience could over generations form a () or a (). Such a group then (if it survives) may become a sub-ethnos, with the opportunity of forming successively an ethnos, a super-ethnos, and even a meta-ethnos.
Drawing inspiration from the works of
Konstantin Leontyev (1831–1891) and
Nikolay Danilevsky
Nikolay Yakovlevich Danilevsky (; – ) was a Russian naturalist, economist, ethnologist, philosopher, historian and ideologue of pan-Slavism and the Slavophile movement. He expounded a circular view of world history.
He is remembered also ...
(1822–1885), Gumilev regarded
Russians
Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...
as a "super-ethnos" kindred to
Turkic-
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
peoples of the
Eurasian steppe
The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...
. The periods in which Russia has been said to conflict with the steppe peoples were reinterpreted by Gumilev as the periods of consolidation of Russian power with that of the steppe to oppose destructive influences from
Catholic Europe
The Catholic Church in Europe is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See in Rome, including represented Eastern Catholic Catholic missions, missions. Demographically, Catholics are the largest religious group in ...
, which posed a potential threat to the integrity of Russia. He also saw a distinct
Eurasian civilization with there being a unification of the Eurasian peoples around Russia.
In accordance with his
pan-Asiatic theories, he supported the national movements of
Tatars
Tatars ( )[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
,
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...
and other Turkic peoples, in addition to those of the Mongols and other
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
ns. Unsurprisingly, Gumilev's teachings have enjoyed immense popularity in
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
n countries.
In
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
a monument to him was erected in August 2005.
The historian Mark Bassin stated that Gumilev's theories are scientifically unproven and problematic but that they have a significant impact in a range of Soviet and post-Soviet contexts.
Several researchers, such as
Vadim Rossman,
John Klier,
Victor Yasmann,
Victor Schnirelmann and
Mikhail Tripolsky describe Gumilev's views as
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. According to those authors, Gumilev did not extend this ethnological ecumenism to the medieval
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, whom he regarded as a parasitic, international urban class that had dominated the
Khazars
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...
and subjected the early
East Slavs
The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Huds ...
to the "Khazar Yoke". The last phrase was adapted by him from the traditional term "
Tatar Yoke" for the Mongol domination of medieval Russia, a term that Gumilev rejected since he did not necessarily regard the
Mongol conquest as a negative event. Instead, he saw the "Tatar yoke" as a military union of the Russians and
Tatars
Tatars ( )[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
.
In particular, he asserted that the
Radhanites
The Radhanites or Radanites (; ) were early medieval Jewish merchants, active in the trade between Christendom and the Muslim world during roughly the 8th to the 10th centuries.
Many trade routes previously established under the Roman Empire cont ...
had been instrumental in the exploitation of
East Slavic people and had exerted undue influence on the sociopolitical and economic landscape of the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Gumilev maintained that the
Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not simply a faith-based religion, but an orthopraxy and Ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, ...
was by nature mercantile and existed outside and in opposition to its environment. According to that view, Jews share a specific way of thinking associated with the moral norms of
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. According to Gumilev, the medieval Jews also did not bear arms themselves but waged wars through
proxies or
mercenaries
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
.
In
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
, the capital of
Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
(Russia), an inscription for a statue in honor of Gumilev quotes the following: "I, a Russian, have been defending the Tatars all my life". About Tatars he said (for example) that "Tatars are in our blood, our history, our language, our worldview. Whatever the real differences with the Russians, the Tatars are not a people outside us, but within us". He called ''Tatar'' a "proud name". Tatar historian Gali Yenikeev (among others) has continued with Gumilev's ideas since.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
stated during a speech in November 2023: "
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263).
...
was given the ''yarlyk''
ermissionby
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
khans to rule as prince, primarily so that he could effectively resist the invasion of the West". Gumilev himself expressed similar ideas.
Influence
The "Eurasian vision" of president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
has allegedly been influenced by Gumilev's ideas.
Personal life
Gumilev identified himself as an Orthodox Christian.
Gumilev married in 1967, the year after his mother died.
Works
*''The
Hsiung-nu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209& ...
'' (1960)
*''Ancient
Turks'' (1964)
*
*''The Hsiung-nu in China'' (1974)
*''
Ethnogenesis
Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification.
The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
and the
Biosphere
The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...
of Earth'' (1978)
*''
Ancient Rus
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...
and the
Great Steppe'' (1989)
*''An End and a New Beginning'' (1989)
*''From
Rus to Russia'' (1992)
References
External links
Gumilevica: All about Gumilev (Biography, Bibliography, Works & Maps)*
ttp://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1446515/1/U602440.pdf Lev Gumilev, Ethnogenesis and Eurasianismby Alexander Sergeevich Titov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumilev, Lev
1912 births
1992 deaths
Writers from Saint Petersburg
People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd
Soviet historians
Russian orientalists
Khazar studies
Russian ethnologists
Russian geographers
Russian anthropologists
Sharashka inmates
National mysticism
Eurasianists
Saint Petersburg State University alumni
Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors
Russian people of Tatar descent
Burials at Nikolskoe Cemetery
Soviet anthropologists
20th-century geographers
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Russian Turkologists
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia
Russian scientists