- Fyodor Uspensky
Fyodor Ivanovich Uspensky or "Uspenskij" (Russian: Фёдор Иванович Успенский) was the preeminent
Russia n Byzantinist in the first third of the20th century . His works are considered to be among the finest illustrations of the revival ofByzantine studies in the pre-revolutionary Russia.Uspensky was born near Galich on
19 February ,1845 . He was educated at theUniversity of St. Petersburg , with his first thesis (1872) dedicated toNicetas Choniates . For two decades (1874-94) he read lectures at the Novorossiysky University inOdessa . This position allowed him to spend considerable time abroad.Uspensky's doctoral thesis (1879) dealt with the foundation of the
Second Bulgarian Empire . Although he specialized in the Byzantine-Bulgarian relations and investigated the Slavic influence on the Byzantine economy, Uspensky also researched and wrote extensively on theCrusade s.In 1894 Uspensky, who shared
Slavophile ideals, decided to move toConstantinople in order to study and protect the surviving monuments of Byzantine antiquity, which had been neglected by the Ottoman authorities for centuries. He founded the Russian Archaeological Institute (headquartered atStudion ) and presided over its pioneering archaeological research in Constantinople,Asia Minor , Macedonia andBulgaria . In1900 , he was elected into theRussian Academy of Sciences . With the outbreak of theGreat War , Uspensky was forced to abandon his work and flee Turkey.Back in
Petrograd , the 70-year-old professor was invited to edit the organ of Byzantine studies, "Vizantiysky Vremennik". After theOctober Revolution , he delivered lectures at the Leningrad University (1922-27) and, enduring criticism of the Bolshevik authorities, prepared for publication the results of a lifelong study — a monumental three-volume account of the history of the Byzantine Empire.Uspensky died in
Leningrad on10 September ,1928 . The posthumous publication of hismagnum opus , based on numerous unpublished sources and unprecedented in scope, demonstrated the wide range of his scholarship. His book about theTrapezuntine Empire also appeared posthumously.Further reading
*Каптерев С.Н. "Bibliographia Uspenskiana". // Византийский временник 1947, vol. 26.
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