Dimitrie Cantemir
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Dimitrie Cantemir (Дмитрий Кантемир in Russian, Kantemiroğlu in Turkish), (October 26 1673 - 1723) was a Moldavian linguist and scholar. He was the first author to write a book in Romanian language.
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Life
Born in 26.10.1673 in Silişteni as the son of the Moldavian Voivode Constantin Cantemir, from the boyar family of Cantemir. His mother, Ana Bantos, was a learned and elightened woman of noble origins. His education began at home, where he learned Greek and Latin and acquired a profound knowledge of the classics. Between 1688 and 1710 he lived in forced exile in Constantinople (Istanbul), where he learned Turkish and studied the history of the Ottoman empire at Patriarchy's Greek Academy. In 1710 he returned to became Voivode of Moldavia.
He had ruled only one year (1710 - 1711) when he joined Peter the Great in his campaign against the Ottoman Empire and placed Moldavia under Russian suzerainty. Defeated by the Turks, Cantemir sought refuge to Russia, where he and his family finally settled. There, he was crowed as Prince of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great and as Prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Charles VI. He died in his estate, to the north of Kharkov in 1723.
Linguistic interests
In 1714 Cantemir becomes a member of the Regal Academy of Berlin. Between 1711-1719 he writes his most important creations.Cantemir was known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages, and being well versed in Oriental scholarship. He was a voluminous and original writer of great sagacity and deep penetration, and his writings range over many subjects. The best known is his History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire. This book circulated through Europe in manuscript for a number of years. It was finally printed in 1734 in London and later it was translated and printed in Gemany and France. It remained the seminal work on the Ottoman Empire up to the middle of the 19-th century.
He also wrote a history of oriental music, which is no longer extant; the first critical history of Romania; under the name of Historia Hieroglyphica, to which he furnished a key, and in which the principal persons are represented by animals; also the history of the two ruling houses of Brancoveanu and Cantacuzino; and a philosophical treatise, the first book ever written in Romanian language - written also in Greek, translated in Arabic, under the title Divanul sau Gâlceava Inţeleptului cu lumea sau Giudeţul sufletului cu trupul; in French: Le divan ou la dispute du sage avec le monde ou le jugement de l'âme avec le corps; in English The Divan or The Wise Man's Parley with the World or The Judgement of the Soul with the Body.
Musicology
A well trained performer and composer of Ottoman music, Cantemir was also one of the most remarkable theoricians of it. His book, "Kitâbu 'Ilmi'l-Mûsikí alâ Vechi'l-Hurûfât" ("The Book of the Science of Music through Letters") (in Turkish) not only deals with melodical and rhythmical structure and practice of Ottoman music, but also hosts several works composed contemporary and before the time of the author, as well as his own, in an alphabetical notation system he invented, thus preserving numerous otherwise would be lost musical work to day. The publishing place and date are: Iaşi 1698.
The most recent publication of his abovementioned work, reprint along with complete transcription and explanations, is:
"Kantemiroğlu, Kitâbu 'İlmi'l-Mûsiki alâ Vechi'l-Hurûfât, Mûsikiyi Harflerle Tesbit ve İcrâ İlminin Kitabı", Yalçın Tura, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, Istanbul 2001, ISBN: 975-08-0167-9
Romanian historian and musicologist Eugenia Popescu-Judetz has numerous works on Cantemir, the most recent of which being a monograph (in English, also translated into Turkish):
"Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, Theorist and Composer of Turkish Music", Eugenia Popescu-Judetz, Pan Yayıncılık, Istanbul 1999, ISBN: 975-7652-82-2
Geographic interests
At the request of the Royal Academy in Berlin, Cantemir wrote in 1714 the first geographical, ethnographical and economic description of Moldavia, Descriptio Moldaviae. As many of his books it circulated first in manuscript and was only later published in Germany (first in 1769 in a geographical magasine and then in 1771 the first edition as a book). Around the same time he prepared a manuscript map of Moldavia, the first real map of this country. It contained a lot of geographical detail as well as administrative information. It was printed in 1737 in the Netherlands and has been used by all cartographers of the time as a inspiration for their own maps of Moldavia.
Children
Cantemir's children were prominent in Russian history. His elder daughter Maria (1700-1754) attracted the attention of Peter the Great who allegedly planned to divorce his wife Catherine and marry her. Upon Catherine's ascension to the throne, she was forced to enter a convent. His son Antiokh (1708-1744) was the Russian ambassador in London and Paris, a prominent satirical poet and Voltaire's friend. Another son, Constantine (1703-1747), was implicated in the Galitzine conspiracy against Empress Anne and exiled to Siberia. Finally, Dimitrie's younger daughter Smaragda (1720-61), the wife of Prince Dmitriy M. Galitzine, was a friend of Empress Elizabeth and one of the great beauties of her time.
External links
- Genealogy of the Cantemir family (http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/cantemir.html)ja:ディミトリエ・カンテミール