Alexander Kazhdan

Quick Facts: Who was Alexander Kazhdan?

Subject:

Alexander Kazhdan

Known for:

Pioneering Byzantinist scholar whose Oxford Dictionary remains a cornerstone of Byzantine studies.

Born:

1922-09-03

Died:

1997-05-29

Century / Era:

1922s Historical Era Archive

Verified Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan (Russian: Александр Петрович Каждан, romanized: Aleksándr Petróvich Kazhdán, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pʲɪˈtrovʲɪt͡ɕ kɐʐˈdan]; 3 September 1922 – 29 May 1997) was a Soviet and American Byzantinist. Among his publications was the three-volume Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, a comprehensive encyclopedic work containing more than 5,000 entries. Born into the affluent Jewish family of the leather and chemical industrialist Pyotr Israilevich Kazhdan (born Peisakh Efros) and Anna (née Frumson), Kazhdan was raised in Moscow by his maternal grandmother Tamara Frumson, a member of the Rostov-on-Don Jewish elite from the Tsarist era. While attending school in 1934–35, he published poems in the children's magazine Pionerskaya Pravda. Kazhdan studied history at Moscow State University from 1939.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

In December 1941, as the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union threatened Moscow, he was rejected from service in the Red Army due to his extreme short-sightedness and evacuated to Ufa, where he graduated from the Bashkir Pedagogical Institute in 1942. From 1943, he pursued doctoral studies as an aspirant at Moscow State University and then with Eugene Kosminsky, a historian of medieval England, at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. A post-war Soviet initiative to revive Russian-language Byzantine studies led Kazhdan to write a Candidate of Sciences dissertation on the agrarian history of the late Byzantine Empire, defended in 1946 and published in 1952. The anti-cosmopolitan campaign launched in the Soviet Union in late 1946 is said to have prevented Kazhdan's career at the Academy of Sciences. Instead, he held a series of academic teaching positions at the Ivanovo Pedagogical Institute in Ivanovo (1947–49), the Tula Pedagogical Institute in Tula (1949–52) and the Velikiye Luki Pedagogical Institute in Velikiye Luki (1953–56), from where he established contact with Byzantine studies scholars in the West.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He completed his Doctor of Sciences dissertation at Tula but only obtained the degree in 1961, for which he blamed his clashes with the Soviet Byzantinists Elena Lipshits, Mitrofan Levchenko and Zinaida Udaltsova. In 1956, Kazhdan secured a position at the Institute of World History of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, in which he remained until leaving the Soviet Union in 1978. After Kazhdan's religious son, the mathematician David Kazhdan, accepted a position at Harvard University and emigrated to the United States in 1975, Kazhdan began to experience professional difficulties in the Soviet Union; his wife, Rimma (Musya), was fired from her position at Progress Publishers, Kazhdan was told he would not be allowed return travel to see his family in the United States, and censorship of his work by his superiors in the Soviet academic establishment increased. In October 1978 Kazhdan and his wife departed from the Soviet Union, having received a visa for immigration to Israel. Kazhdan lectured briefly at the University of Vienna, the Collège de France and the University of Birmingham before moving on to the United States.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1922 (1922-09-03): Birth of Alexander Kazhdan — Pioneering Byzantinist scholar whose Oxford Dictionary remains a cornerstone of Byzantine studies.
2. 1934: 1934 Milestone — While attending school in 1934–35, he published poems in the children's magazine Pionerskaya Pravda.
3. 1939: 1939 Milestone — Kazhdan studied history at Moscow State University from 1939.
4. 1941: 1941 Milestone — In December 1941, as the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union threatened Moscow, he was rejected from service in the Red Army due to his extreme short-sightedness and evacuated to Ufa, where he graduated from the Bashkir Pedagogical Institute in 1942.
5. 1943: 1943 Milestone — From 1943, he pursued doctoral studies as an aspirant at Moscow State University and then with Eugene Kosminsky, a historian of medieval England, at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.
6. 1946: 1946 Milestone — A post-war Soviet initiative to revive Russian-language Byzantine studies led Kazhdan to write a Candidate of Sciences dissertation on the agrarian history of the late Byzantine Empire, defended in 1946 and published in 1952.
7. 1947: 1947 Milestone — Instead, he held a series of academic teaching positions at the Ivanovo Pedagogical Institute in Ivanovo (1947–49), the Tula Pedagogical Institute in Tula (1949–52) and the Velikiye Luki Pedagogical Institute in Velikiye Luki (1953–56), from where he established contact with Byzantine studies scholars in the West.
8. 1956: 1956 Milestone — In 1956, Kazhdan secured a position at the Institute of World History of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, in which he remained until leaving the Soviet Union in 1978.
9. 1961: 1961 Milestone — He completed his Doctor of Sciences dissertation at Tula but only obtained the degree in 1961, for which he blamed his clashes with the Soviet Byzantinists Elena Lipshits, Mitrofan Levchenko and Zinaida Udaltsova.
10. 1975: 1975 Milestone — After Kazhdan's religious son, the mathematician David Kazhdan, accepted a position at Harvard University and emigrated to the United States in 1975, Kazhdan began to experience professional difficulties in the Soviet Union; his wife, Rimma (Musya), was fired from her position at Progress Publishers, Kazhdan was told he would not be allowed return travel to see his family in the United States, and censorship of his work by his superiors in the Soviet academic establishment increased.
11. 1978: 1978 Milestone — In October 1978 Kazhdan and his wife departed from the Soviet Union, having received a visa for immigration to Israel.
12. 1997 (1997-05-29): Passing & Historical Legacy — Alexander Kazhdan passed away on 1997-05-29, leaving an enduring historical legacy.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Alexander Kazhdan

True or False: “Alexander Kazhdan's initial focus on the agrarian history of Byzantium was later broadened to include an interest in Byzantine literature and hagiography.”

Answer (TRUE ⭕): While his early work focused heavily on material culture and social structure (like agrarian life), he later developed a significant scholarly concern with Byzantine literary sources.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Alexander Kazhdan