Եզակի բյուզանդագետն ու հայագետը․ Նիկողայոս Ադոնց

<jats:p>Nicholas Adontz (1871–1942) was an internationally renowned Byzantinist and Armenologist. He received a brilliant education at the Tatev Monastery, the Gevorkian Seminary in Etchmiadzin, in Tiflis, and at St. Petersburg University from which he graduated with a gold medal. From 1899 to 1901, thanks to the financial support of Alexander Mantashyants, N. Adontz completed internship in London, Paris, Munich, Strasbourg, Venice, and at the University of Vienna, working in various matenadarans (manuscript repositories) and libraries. He had the honor of attending lectures by such eminent scholars as Karl Krumbacher, Antoine Meillet, Heinrich Hübschmann and others. He wrote in Grabar (Classical Armenian), Western Armenian, Eastern Armenian, Russian, French, English, and German. The scholar was proficient in Sanskrit, Latin, Byzantine Greek (Medieval Greek), Persian, Georgian, Assyrian, and could read the cuneiform of the Urartians and other peoples. Three fundamental works by Adontz on Byzantinology and Armenology [“Armenia in the Period of Justinian” (1908), “Dionysius Thrax and the Armenian Commentators” (1915), “Critical History of Armenia” (1946)] made a significant contribution to this field of science. N. Adontz demonstrated the role played by the Armenian Macedonian dynasty throughout its two-hundred-year reign in the history of the Byzantine Empire. During this historical period, Byzantium was the most civilized and powerful state in the world. It should be noted that N. Adontz was the first to refer to Urartu as Armenia. N. Adontz proved that the reign of the Bagratid royal dynasty was the longest in the world history. He introduced a number of important clarifications and amendments to Byzantinology and Armenology. N. Adontz attached immense importance to the role of the Church in Armenian history and dedicated a number of important studies to this issue, emphasizing the Church's key role in preserving the national identity of the people. He was a zealous defender of the Armenian Question. In this regard, he published critical articles in the European press in defense of the Armenian people and their historical rights. The scientific legacy of N. Adontz, with its verified propositions and facts, serves as a starting point for future Byzantinists and Armenologists.</jats:p>