Cyril Leo Toumanoff ( ka, კირილ თუმანოვი; ; 10 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a
Georgian-American historian, and academic
genealogist
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...
who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, and the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. Born in the Russian Empire into a princely family, Toumanoff escaped to the United States after the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
. His works have significantly influenced the
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
scholarship of the medieval
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
.
[ Robert H. Hewsen. "In Memoriam: Cyril Toumanoff." ''Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies''. Vol. 8, 1995, 5–7.]
Family
Cyril Toumanoff was born on 10 October 1913 in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, the son of Prince Leo Tumanov, a military officer of the Russian Imperial army. His father, who was born in Yerevan, was descended from the Armeno-Georgian princely family of
Tumanishvili (Russified to Tumanov)
[Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts'', p. 16. Peeters, . "For the present investigation no single scholar's body of work has had a greater impact than that of Cyril Toumanoff (1913-1997). Born in St. Peterburg of an old Armeno-Georgian noble house (Tumanian, Tumanishvili), Toumanoff emigrated to the United States in 1928. He went on to earn his doctorate from Georgetown University in 1943 and immediately accepted a position there, holding it until his retirement in 1970."] whose ancestors had emigrated from their original homeland in
Cilician Armenia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenians, Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages b ...
in the 15th century.
This family is on the list of the Georgian princes that was attached to the
Treaty of Georgievsk concluded between the Georgian king
Erekle II and the Russian empress
Catherine II
Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...
in 1783. On December 6, 1850, the Tumanishvili were officially enrolled on the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
's
list of Georgian princely families as ''
knyaz
A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...
'' Tumanov. Toumanoff's mother, Yelizaveta Zhdanova, was a descendant of a number of Russian noble families, with genealogical ties with Western European nobility.
Career
Toumanoff's parents fled the
October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
in Saint Petersburg in 1917. His father joined the
White Russian forces during the
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
, while his mother was executed by the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
.
Cyril Toumanoff was initially sheltered by his maternal grandparents in
Astrakhan
Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...
before the family fled to Serbia. In 1925, he and his father escaped to the United States. He graduated from the
Lenox School in 1931 and went to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. He then studied
Armenology in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
under
Nicholas Adontz and
Georgian in Berlin under
Michael Tsereteli.
During these years, Toumanoff converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. A breach with his Orthodox Christian father ensued which ended when they reconciled at the latter's deathbed in 1943.
Toumanoff earned a doctorate from the
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in 1943 and soon accepted a position there which he held until his retirement as a
professor emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
of history in 1970. Thereafter he moved to Rome.
An authority on nobiliary and dynastic questions, Toumanoff was also a Professed Knight of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
, High Historical Consultant, Grand Magistry, and the Grand Prior of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
.
Having taken religious orders he became known as Fra Cyril.
Toumanoff died in 1997 in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
at the age of 83.
He is buried at the chapel of the Knights of Malta at
Campo Verano, Rome.
[ А. А. Шумков, М. Ю. Медведев (1997), Дворянский календарь: справочная родословная книга российского дворянства, т. 4, с. 102. Санкт-Петербургское Дворянское Собрание.]
Bibliography
* "
On the Relationship between the Founder of the Empire of Trebizond and the Georgian Queen Thamar", ''
Speculum'' 15 (1940).
* "
Medieval Georgian Historical Literature (VIIth-XVth Centuries)", ''Traditio'' 1 (1943).
* "Caesaropapism in Byzantium and Russia,"
Theological Studies, VII (1946).
* "The Old Manuscript of the Georgian Annals: The Queen Anne Codex (QA) 1479-1495", ''Traditio'' 5 (1947)
* "The Early Bagratids. remarks in connexion with some recent publications", ''
Le Muséon'' 62 (1949).
* "
The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids and the institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia", ''Traditio'' 7 (1949–1951)
* "
Christian Caucasia between Byzantium and Iran. New light from Old Sources", ''Traditio'' 10 (1954).
* "
Moscow the Third Rome: genesis and significance of a politico-religious idea", ''
The Catholic Review'' 40:4 (1955).
* "La noblesse géorgienne sa genèse et sa structure", ''Rivista Araldica'', Sett (1956).
* "Chronology of the Kings of Abasgia and Other Problems", ''Le Muséon'' 69 (1956)
* "Caucasia and Byzantine Studies", ''Traditio'' 12 (1956)
* "The Bagratids of Iberia from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century", ''Le Muséon'' 74 (1961)
* "
The dates of the Pseudo-Moses of Chorene", ''
Handes Amsorya'' 75 (1961)
* ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'' (
Georgetown University Press
Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...
, 1963).
* "Armenia and Georgia", in ''
The Cambridge Medieval History'' IV (1966).
* "
Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia", ''Traditio'' 25 (1969).
* ''The Order of Malta and the Russian Empire'' (Rome, 1969) with Olgerd de Sherbowitz-Wetzor.
* "
The Mamikonids and the Liparitids", ''Armeniaca Venise'' (1969).
* "
The Third-Century Armenian Arsacids: A chronological and Genealogical Commentary", ''
Revue des Études Arméniennes'' 6 (1969): 233-281.
* "
Caucasia and Byzantium", ''Traditio'' 27 (1971)
* "L’Ordre de Malte dans l’Empire de Russie : Grand-Prieuré Catholique de Russie", ''Rivista Araldica'' (maggio-giugno 1973)
* ''Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour l’histoire de la Caucasie chrétienne (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie)'' (Rome: Aquila, 1976).
* "Aransahikides ou Haykides? Derniers rois de Siounie", ''Handes Amsorya'' (1976)
* ''Catalogue de la Noblesse titrée de l’Empire de Russie'' (Rome, 1982).
* ''Les Maisons Princières Géorgiennes de l’Empire de Russie'' (Rome, 1983).
* "The Albanian Royal Succession", ''Le Muséon'' 97 (1984).
* ''The Social Myth: Introduction to Byzantinism'' (Rome: Viella, 1984).
* "Heraclids and the Arsacids", ''Revue des Études Arméniennes'' 19 (1985).
* "Problems of Aransahikid Genealogy", ''Le Muséon'' 98 (1985).
* "
More on the Mamikonids and the Liparitids" (1986).
* ''Les dynasties de la Caucasie chrétienne de l’Antiquité jusqu’au XIXe siècle ; Tables généalogiques et chronologiques'', *Rome, 1990).
* "
The Princely Nobility of Georgia" (1997).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toumanoff, Cyril
1913 births
1997 deaths
Iranologists
Historians of Georgia (country)
Georgetown University alumni
Georgetown University faculty
White Russian emigrants to the United States
Nobility of Georgia (country)
Knights of Malta
American medievalists
American Iranologists
Former American Orthodox Christians
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
Former Russian Orthodox Christians