Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson (31 July 1740 – 27 August 1807) 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 around the ...

orientalist, historian and diplomat in Swedish service. In 1768 he was supreme interpreter, in its subsequent elevation to the

Swedish nobility The Swedish nobility (, or , ) has historically been a legally or socially privileged Social class, class in Sweden, and part of the so-called ''frälse'' (a derivation from Old Swedish meaning ''free neck''). The archaic term for nobility, ''fr ...

, he participated in the French-sounding names d'Ohsson. Abraham Constantin Mouradgea d’Ohsson, author of a famous History of the Mongols, was his son. He lived many years in France.

Biography

He was born at Pera, the European part of Istanbul, in 1740 as Ignatius Muradjan Tosunian the son of a Catholic family. His father was an interpreter at the Swedish Embassy and followed his father by entering into the service of the Swedish embassy at the Ottoman Porte, and by his talents attained the highest diplomatic honours. He was made ''charge of affairs'', knight of the order of Vasa and in 1782 minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary. His knowledge of the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and Turkish languages gave him the means of acquiring information respecting the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from the best sources. He resolved upon writing a history of

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Selim II Selim II (; ; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond () or Selim the Drunkard (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sul ...

, but this was suspended by his plan of giving a full picture of the Ottoman Empire. To this work he devoted himself with the greatest zeal and perseverance, and with great difficulty succeeded in collecting the first authentic information from a prejudiced, servile, and jealous people, respecting and national customs and habitats, the interior of the

seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from , via Turkish, Italian and French) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ottoman Empire. "The S ...

, the mosques and the private life of a Turk. With the materials which he had obtained, he proceeded to Paris in 1784, where he prepared his work for the press, and published it in 1788 and 1789, in two volumes, under the title of ''Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman''. This work completely answered the expectations which had been formed respecting it. The beauty of the typography and engravings occasioned an expense which exceeded the proceeds of the sale; but d'Ohsson who possessed a large fortune, was willing to make sacrifices for the embellishment and perfection of his work. The revolution interrupted his literary activity, and he returned to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Sultan

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

, who honoured knowledge, allowed the two volumes which were published to be presented to him, and, far from being displeased at the disclosure of some secrets, gave orders to facilitate the learned writer's researches by affording him the necessary information. After a long sojourn in

, d'Ohsson returned to Paris, where he found hardly any traces of his large property. Even the buildings where he had deposited the copies of his work, and the plates, drawings &c., had been destroyed and plundered. Without allowing himself to be depressed by these misfortunes, he devised a still greater plan, which had in view a historical picture of the whole East, and became entirely absorbed in his desire to execute it. In 1804 he had completely two volumes of his ''Tableau Historique de l’Orient'', when the war with Sweden made him apprehensive of another interruption. He asked and received permission from his government to retire to the country. Here he continued to occupy himself on his undertaking during three years, and gave the fruit of fifty-four years' labour to the world, in a work which contains, in three separate divisions, a complete view of the

. These three divisions have the separate titles, ''Tableau Historique de l’Orient'', a history of all nations under the Ottoman government: ''Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman'', a view of the laws, religion and customs, &c.; lastly, ''L'Histoire de la Maison Ottomane'', from

Osman I Osman I or Osman Ghazi (; or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4) was the eponymous founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as a bey, beylik or emirate). While initially a small Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman principality during Osman's lifetime, h ...

till 1758. The whole was nearly completed when it was interrupted by d'Ohsson's death on 27 August 1807.

Works

* ''Tableau Historique de l’Orient.'' 2 volumes. * ''Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman.'' 7 volumes. Firmin Didot, Paris 1788-1824. ** German: ''Allgemeine Schilderung des Othomanischen Reichs.'' Abridged and translated by Christian Daniel Beck. 2 vols. Weidmann, Leipzig 1788/1793 (; ). * ''L'Histoire de la Maison Ottomane.'' From

till 1758.

Literature

* Carter Vaughn Findley

'Enlightening Europe on Islam and the Ottomans: Mouradgea d’Ohsson and His Masterpiece,'' Brill, Leiden, 2019, xv + 398 pages * Elisabeth A. Fraser: ''„Dressing Turks in the French Manner“. Mouradgea d’Ohsson’s Panorama of the Ottoman Empire.'' In: ''Ars Orientalis.'' Bd. 39 (2009), S. 198–230. * Elisabeth A. Fraser
''Mediterranean Encounters: Artists Between Europe and the Ottoman Empire, 1774-1839''
Penn State University Press, 2017.

References

The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography ...

External links

The Armenian Community In Sweden

Findley: Mouradgea d’Ohsson and His Tableau général de l’empire othoman (engl.)
(PDF-Datei; 146 kB)
Literatur von und über Vater und Sohn D' Ohsson im Katalog der SUB Göttingen

Ignatius Mouradgea d’Ohsson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohsson, Ignatius Mouradgea 1740 births 1807 deaths Ambassadors of Sweden to the Ottoman Empire Diplomats of the Ottoman Empire Swedish orientalists Diplomats for Sweden Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Swedish people of Armenian descent Writers from Istanbul Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire Immigrants to Sweden Diplomats from Istanbul