Ahatanhel Krymsky

Ahatanhel KRYMSKY (January 15 [3 – Julian],1871 – January 25, 1942) is an eminent Orientalist and Ukrainian philologist. Full member of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (1918). ‘Honored Scientist’ title holder (1940).

A. KRYMSKY graduated from Gymnasium at Ostroh (1884), the Second Kyiv Gymnasium (1885), Kyiv Pavlo Halahan College (1889), the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages (1892), and Moscow University (1896). In 1896-98 Ahatanhel Krymsky went on a scholarly expedition to Syria and Lebanon. In 1898-1918 taught at the Arabic Philology Department of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages (Moscow), since 1990 as full professor. He taught history and ‘history of literature of the peoples of the Muslim East’, and Semitic languages. He served as a member and then Secretary of the Oriental Commission of Moscow Archaeological Society and editor of its journal ‘Drevnosti Vostochnye’ (Oriental Antiquities). Ahatanhel Krymsky made a significant contribution to the Brockhaus & Efron, and the Granat Russian encyclopedias.

Ahatanhel Krymsky was one of the founders and in 1918–28 Permanent Secretary of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, he also served as the Head of the Academy’s History and Philology Department till 1929. He was founder and Head of all Academy’s Oriental Commissions. In 1921-1929 served as Director of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language. In 1918-1929 (intermittently) he was professor at Kyiv University. Author of numerous monographs, textbooks, individual research papers and articles, Ahatanhel Krymsky also translated a great number of works of various Orient authors into Ukrainian and Russian languages. In 1920 – early 1930s, a number of Krymsky’s academic papers were published in Kyiv in Ukrainian language: History of Persia and its Literature (1923), History of Turkey and its Literature (vol. 1 in 1924), Hafiz and his Songs (1924), Persian Theater, its Origin and Development (1925), History of Turkey and its Literature (vol. 2 in 1927).

In 1930, Ahatanhel Krymsky became victim of political repressions. In 1939, he was re-admitted to scholarly and teaching activity in the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. However, in July 1941 he was again arrested and deported to Kustanay, Kazakhstan, where he died at the age of 71. In 1957 he was acquitted and rehabilitated.

In 2007-2010, the Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies republished a number of Krymsky’s works in the field of Oriental studies: ‘Vybrani Skhodoznavchi Prazi v P’yaty Tomakh’ (Selected Oriental Studies in five volumes): vol. 1 ‘Arabic Studies’ (2007); vol. 2 ‘Turkish Studies’ (2007); vol. 3 ‘Turkish Studies’ (2010); vol. 4 ‘Iranian Studies’ (2008); vol. 5 ‘Iranian Studies’ (2010).