Vladimir N. Beneshevich
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich was a scholar of Byzantine history
and canon law
, and a philologer
and paleographer of the manuscripts in that sphere.
Beneshevich was a corresponding-member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences from 1914, of the Russian Academy of Sciences
from 1924, and of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
and of the Strassburg Academy of Sciences from 1929.
Beneshevich was executed by the Soviet regime in 1938, and is among the Eastern Orthodox Church
's "New Martyr
s".
of the Russian Empire. His father was a bailiff at the local court, and his grandfather was a Russian orthodox
priest. He had one brother, Dmitri, who was three years older.
Beneshevich graduated 'first class' from Gymnasium in 1893. He then studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University
from 1893–1897, graduating with a first-degree diploma. From 1897–1901 he studied philosophy, law, and history in Germany, first at the University of Heidelberg, then at the University of Leipzig
, and finally at the Humboldt University of Berlin
. Upon his return to Russia, he married Amata Ludmila Faddeevne (1888–1967), daughter of professor of classical philology Faddei Zielinski
at the University of St. Petersburg. The Beneshevichs would have three sons; Nikita (1910-1918) and the twins Dmitri (1911-1937) and George (1911-1937).
Between 1900–1905 Beneshevich worked in libraries in Europe and the Middle East, studying Slavic and Byzantine written sources, and participated in his first archaeological expeditions to the ancient religious center of Mount Athos
, Mount Sinai
, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, and Palestine. He was granted access to handwritten monastic collections in 49 European libraries, and worked in Paris, Vienna, Munich, and Rome, discovering many hitherto-unknown legal monuments in the process. The main focus of his research activities was to reconstruct the history of Greco-Roman law, based on a systematic source base. He also briefly (1903-1904) taught history of canon law at the Alexander Lyceum. His research findings were published in his Master's
thesis on The story of the sources of Canonical Law of the Greek Orthodox ChurchFull title: Канонический сборник XIV титулов со второй четверти VII века до 883 года. К древнейшей истории источников права греко-восточной церкв
"Canonical Collection of 14 titles from the 2nd half of the 7th century to 883. The story of the sources of Canonical Law of the Greek Orthodox Church". in 1905, for which he received a Master of Church Law. He had also discovered three new fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus
(these are now housed at the Russian National Library
in Saint Petersburg).
In 1905, Beneshevich was appointed privat-docent of Byzantine history at the faculty of history and philology at the University of St. Petersburg. In 1908, Benshevich was appointed editor of the journal Обозрения трудов по славяноведению, a post that he would held until 1918.
In 1909, Beneshevich was appointed extraordinary professor, and, shortly thereafter ordinary professor of Byzantine history. He also lectured extensively on paleography, and, from 1906 onwards, on the history of canon law at the University's faculty of law, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1906–1909), at the summit of women's courses (1909–1917), at the Raeva (1910–1911), and at the Military Academy of Law (1909–1912).
In 1912, Beneshevich received a doctor of law from the Athens State University
. In the same year, and together with egyptologist Boris Alexandrovich Turayev
and linguist Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, Beneshevich initiated the founding of the journal Christian East under the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
In 1914, on the eve of World War I, Beneshevich published his doctoral thesis on the Synagogue among the 50 works and other Canonical Collections of John Scholasticus
.Originally: Синагога в 50 титулов и другие юридические сборники Иоанна Схоластика. He was granted a Doctor of Church Law the same year.
Between 1917–1918 Beneshevich served as secretary to the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church
. Between 1919–1926 he served in several different capacities in the Church's archives and libraries; from 1923–1926, as head of the Public Library of the History of Material Culture Academy, and from 1925–1926 as head librarian of the Greek manuscripts department of manuscripts Public Library in Leningrad.
In July 1922, and again in 1924, he was arrested in connection with the Case of the Metropolitan Benjamin, but was not held long in either instance.
In 1926, Beneshevich was appointed Secretary of the Byzantine Commission of the USSR. In 1927, he was granted permission to travel to Germany on a three-month scientific mission, where he had the opportunity to study a number of Greek manuscripts. Shortly before his return, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences offered to translate his work on John Scholasticus. Beneshevich consented.
In early 1928, Beneshevich was elected corresponding–member to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In November of the same year, he was arrested on charges of spying for the Vatican, Germany and Poland. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and sent to Solovki prison camp. He was returned to Leningrad in 1930 to attend trial with his wife and brother on charges of sedition. In August 1931, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and sent to in the Ukhta-Pechora prison camp. The arrest and searches almost completely destroyed his collection of (copies of) ancient manuscripts. Of the 49 manuscripts known from his published prolegomena on them, only three survived. Some 2000 photographs were also destroyed.
At the request of the Old Bolshevik
Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich
, Beneshevich was released prematurely in March 1933. From 1933 Beneshevich then served as archivar of Greek manuscripts in public libraries, and lectured on Byzantine history at Leningrad State University.
The first German edition of his work on John Scholasticus was published in Munich in May 1937. In October, an article in Izvestia
portrayed this as a betrayal, and questioned why a Russian scientific work was published in Nazi Germany. Beneshevich was dismissed from his post, and on November 27 was arrested on charges of spying for Germany.
Together with his twin sons and brother, who had been indicted on the same charges, Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich was executed by NKVD
firing squad on 17 January 1938 in Leningrad.According to a Academy of Sciences membership roll from 1974, Beneshevich was executed on 19 December 1943. However, a document dated 27 February 1938 refers to the execution, which makes the 1943 date implausible. See also .
Beneshevich was struck from the rolls of the Russian Academy of Sciences
on 29 April 1938. He was exonerated of the charges of treason by a Military Tribunal LVO on 20 August 1958, over 20 years after his execution. Beneshevich was rehabilitated by the Academy of Sciences on 19 December 1958.
Biography of his brother:.
Biographies of his brother and his sons:.
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
and canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, and a philologer
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and paleographer of the manuscripts in that sphere.
Beneshevich was a corresponding-member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences from 1914, of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
from 1924, and of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Prussian Academy of Sciences was an academy established in Berlin on 11 July 1700, four years after the Akademie der Künste or "Arts Academy", to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer.-Origins:...
and of the Strassburg Academy of Sciences from 1929.
Beneshevich was executed by the Soviet regime in 1938, and is among the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
's "New Martyr
New Martyr
The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church was originally given to martyrs who died under heretical rulers . Later the Church added to the list those martyred under Islam and various modern regimes, especially Communist ones, which espoused state atheism...
s".
Biography
Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich was born on August 9, 1874, in Druia Disnenskoho, in the Vilensk provinceVilna Governorate
The Vilna Governorate or Government of Vilna was a governorate of the Russian Empire created after the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795...
of the Russian Empire. His father was a bailiff at the local court, and his grandfather was a Russian orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
priest. He had one brother, Dmitri, who was three years older.
Beneshevich graduated 'first class' from Gymnasium in 1893. He then studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
from 1893–1897, graduating with a first-degree diploma. From 1897–1901 he studied philosophy, law, and history in Germany, first at the University of Heidelberg, then at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, and finally at the Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
. Upon his return to Russia, he married Amata Ludmila Faddeevne (1888–1967), daughter of professor of classical philology Faddei Zielinski
Faddei Zielinski
Tadeusz Stefan Zieliński ; September 14, 1859, Kiev Guberniya, Russia–May 8, 1944, Bavaria, Germany): was a polish prominent classical philologist, historian, translator of Sophocles, Euripides and other classical authors into Russian...
at the University of St. Petersburg. The Beneshevichs would have three sons; Nikita (1910-1918) and the twins Dmitri (1911-1937) and George (1911-1937).
Between 1900–1905 Beneshevich worked in libraries in Europe and the Middle East, studying Slavic and Byzantine written sources, and participated in his first archaeological expeditions to the ancient religious center of Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, and Palestine. He was granted access to handwritten monastic collections in 49 European libraries, and worked in Paris, Vienna, Munich, and Rome, discovering many hitherto-unknown legal monuments in the process. The main focus of his research activities was to reconstruct the history of Greco-Roman law, based on a systematic source base. He also briefly (1903-1904) taught history of canon law at the Alexander Lyceum. His research findings were published in his Master's
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
thesis on The story of the sources of Canonical Law of the Greek Orthodox ChurchFull title: Канонический сборник XIV титулов со второй четверти VII века до 883 года. К древнейшей истории источников права греко-восточной церкв
"Canonical Collection of 14 titles from the 2nd half of the 7th century to 883. The story of the sources of Canonical Law of the Greek Orthodox Church". in 1905, for which he received a Master of Church Law. He had also discovered three new fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
(these are now housed at the Russian National Library
Russian National Library
The National Library of Russia in St Petersburg, known as the State Public Saltykov-Shchedrin Library from 1932 to 1992 , is the oldest public library in Russia...
in Saint Petersburg).
In 1905, Beneshevich was appointed privat-docent of Byzantine history at the faculty of history and philology at the University of St. Petersburg. In 1908, Benshevich was appointed editor of the journal Обозрения трудов по славяноведению, a post that he would held until 1918.
In 1909, Beneshevich was appointed extraordinary professor, and, shortly thereafter ordinary professor of Byzantine history. He also lectured extensively on paleography, and, from 1906 onwards, on the history of canon law at the University's faculty of law, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1906–1909), at the summit of women's courses (1909–1917), at the Raeva (1910–1911), and at the Military Academy of Law (1909–1912).
In 1912, Beneshevich received a doctor of law from the Athens State University
Athens State University
Athens State University, located in Athens, Alabama, USA, is a two-year upper level university. Athens State is the only two-year upper level university in the state of Alabama. Thirty-three different majors are offered to junior and senior students....
. In the same year, and together with egyptologist Boris Alexandrovich Turayev
Boris Turayev
Boris Alexandrovich Turayev was a Russian scholar who studied the Ancient Near East . He was admitted into the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1918....
and linguist Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, Beneshevich initiated the founding of the journal Christian East under the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
In 1914, on the eve of World War I, Beneshevich published his doctoral thesis on the Synagogue among the 50 works and other Canonical Collections of John Scholasticus
John Scholasticus
John Scholasticus was the 32nd patriarch of Constantinople from April 12, 565 until his death in 577. He is also regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church....
.Originally: Синагога в 50 титулов и другие юридические сборники Иоанна Схоластика. He was granted a Doctor of Church Law the same year.
Between 1917–1918 Beneshevich served as secretary to the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
. Between 1919–1926 he served in several different capacities in the Church's archives and libraries; from 1923–1926, as head of the Public Library of the History of Material Culture Academy, and from 1925–1926 as head librarian of the Greek manuscripts department of manuscripts Public Library in Leningrad.
In July 1922, and again in 1924, he was arrested in connection with the Case of the Metropolitan Benjamin, but was not held long in either instance.
In 1926, Beneshevich was appointed Secretary of the Byzantine Commission of the USSR. In 1927, he was granted permission to travel to Germany on a three-month scientific mission, where he had the opportunity to study a number of Greek manuscripts. Shortly before his return, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences offered to translate his work on John Scholasticus. Beneshevich consented.
In early 1928, Beneshevich was elected corresponding–member to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In November of the same year, he was arrested on charges of spying for the Vatican, Germany and Poland. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and sent to Solovki prison camp. He was returned to Leningrad in 1930 to attend trial with his wife and brother on charges of sedition. In August 1931, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and sent to in the Ukhta-Pechora prison camp. The arrest and searches almost completely destroyed his collection of (copies of) ancient manuscripts. Of the 49 manuscripts known from his published prolegomena on them, only three survived. Some 2000 photographs were also destroyed.
At the request of the Old Bolshevik
Old Bolshevik
Old Bolshevik , also Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, was an unofficial designation for those who were members of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, many of whom were either tried and executed by the NKVD during Stalin era purges or died under suspicious...
Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich
Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich
Vladimir Dmitriyevich Bonch-Bruyevich was a Soviet politician, historian and writer, Old Bolshevik . He was a brother of Mikhail Dmitriyevich Bonch-Bruyevich....
, Beneshevich was released prematurely in March 1933. From 1933 Beneshevich then served as archivar of Greek manuscripts in public libraries, and lectured on Byzantine history at Leningrad State University.
The first German edition of his work on John Scholasticus was published in Munich in May 1937. In October, an article in Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
portrayed this as a betrayal, and questioned why a Russian scientific work was published in Nazi Germany. Beneshevich was dismissed from his post, and on November 27 was arrested on charges of spying for Germany.
Together with his twin sons and brother, who had been indicted on the same charges, Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich was executed by NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
firing squad on 17 January 1938 in Leningrad.According to a Academy of Sciences membership roll from 1974, Beneshevich was executed on 19 December 1943. However, a document dated 27 February 1938 refers to the execution, which makes the 1943 date implausible. See also .
Beneshevich was struck from the rolls of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
on 29 April 1938. He was exonerated of the charges of treason by a Military Tribunal LVO on 20 August 1958, over 20 years after his execution. Beneshevich was rehabilitated by the Academy of Sciences on 19 December 1958.
Contributions
Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich published more than 100 works related to Byzantine history and culture. The most important of these are:- Два списка славянского перевода синтагмы Матфея Властаря, хранящиеся в СПб-кой синодальной библиотеке: Описание их и тексты неизд. ст. Saint Petersburg, 1902.
- Канонический сборник XIV титулов со второй четверти VII в. до 883 г. К древнейшей истории источников права греко-восточной церкви. Saint Petersburg, 1905.
- Древнеславянская кормчая XIV титулов без толкования. СПб, 1907. Т. 1; Sofia, 1987. Т. 2.
- Армянский пролог о св. Борисе и Глебе. Saint Petersburg, 1909.
- Ответы Петра Хартофилакса. Saint Petersburg, 1909.
- Описание греческих рукописей монастыря св. Екатерины на Синае. Saint Petersburg, 1911—1917. Т. 1—3.
- Синагога в 50 титулов и другие юридические сборники Иоанна Схоластика. К древнейшей истории источников права греко-восточной церкви. Saint Petersburg, 1914.
- Сборник памятников по истории церковного права, преимущественно русской церкви до эпохи Петра Великого. (2 issues) Saint Petersburg, 1915.
- Вазелонские акты. Материалы для истории крестьянского и монастырского землевладения в Византии VIII—XV веков. Л., 1927 (posthumously together with Ф. И. Успенским).
- Corpus scriptorum juris graeco-romani tam canonici quam civilis. Sofia, 1935.
Further reading
Biography of his wife:.Biography of his brother:.
Biographies of his brother and his sons:.