Thomas Whittemore (January 2, 1871 – June 8, 1950) was an American scholar and archaeologist who founded the Byzantine Institute of America. His close personal relationship with

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, founder and the first president of the

Turkish Republic Turkish Republic may refer to: * Turkey, archaically the "Turkish Republic" * Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the ...

, enabled him to gain permission from the

Turkish government The Government of Turkey () is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party system. The term government can me ...

to start the preservation of the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

mosaics in 1931.

Early life

Thomas Whittemore was born in the

Cambridgeport Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of ...

neighborhood of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, on January 2, 1871. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from

Tufts College Tufts University is a Private university, private research university in Medford, Massachusetts, Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts, Grafton, as well as Talloire ...

in 1894. He taught English Composition at Tufts for a year and then studied at

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) is the largest of the twelve graduate schools of Harvard University, when measured by the number of degree-seeking students. Formed in 1872, GSAS is responsible for most o ...

. He also taught courses in the fine arts at New York University and Columbia University.

Professional activities

From 1911 until his death Whittemore served as American representative on the

Egyptian Exploration Fund The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization founded in 1882 for the purpose of financing and facilitating the exploration of significant archeological sites in Egypt and Sudan, founded by writer Amelia Edwards and coin ...

. Whittemore worked in various capacities to provide relief to Russian refugees during World War I and following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He spent 8 months in Russia in 1915-16 and reported on conditions there when he returned to New York to organized shipments of supplies. He was a member of the U.S.-based Russian Relief Commission and a committee for war relief organized by Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaovna.

Byzantine studies

In 1929, Whittemore founded the Byzantine Library of Paris and, in 1930, the Byzantine Institute of America, whose mission was to "conserve, restore, study, and document" the monuments and artworks of the Byzantine world. The list of sponsors of the new venture, according to renowned architectural historian William L. MacDonald, "reads like a who's who of art, aristocracy, and money. Whittemore's message was that Christian art in the Near East, especially in Constantinople, was unknown, utterly magnificent, equal or superior to Western medieval art, and ought to be revealed and understood." In 1931, Whittemore traveled with the institute to Istanbul with the permission of

to oversee the removal of plaster covering the Byzantine mosaics in

. Of the radical and sudden transformation of Hagia Sophia from an active mosque to a secular museum in 1931 he wrote: "Santa Sophia was a mosque the day that I talked to him. The next morning, when I went to the mosque, there was a sign on the door written in Ataturk's own hand. It said: 'The museum is closed for repairs'" In 1934, Harvard University appointed him keeper of Byzantine coins and seals at the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

for a year. He also accepted a presidential appointment to represent the United States at the Byzantine Conference in Sofia in September of that year. His work was widely reported in the United States. In 1942, the ''New York Times'' noted his return to Istanbul for his "ninth year in uncovering Byzantine mosaics in the St. Sophia Museum". Beginning in 1948, he sponsored a program for the restoration of the mosaics in the

Chora Church The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque () is a Byzantine architecture, Byzantine church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı, Istanbul, Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It is famous for ...

in Istanbul.

Awards and honors

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1950. * Asteroid 931 Whittemora, discovered by French astronomer

François Gonnessiat François Gonnessiat (May 22, 1856 ( Nurieux-Volognat)–October 18, 1934) was a French astronomer, observer of comets and discoverer of two minor planets. He worked at the Observatory of Lyon. In 1889 he won the Lalande Prize for astronomy from ...

Algiers Observatory The Algiers Observatory was built in the late 19th century in the Algiers suburb of Bouzaréah, Algeria, North Africa. It participated in the Astrographic Catalogue project, taking the zone between -2 and +4 degrees to expose 1,260 plates betwe ...

in March 1920, was named in his honor. The was mentioned in ''

The Names of the Minor Planets Paul Herget (January 30, 1908 – August 27, 1981) was an American astronomer and director of the Cincinnati Observatory, who established the Minor Planet Center after World War II. Career Herget taught astronomy at the University of Cincinna ...

'' by

Paul Herget Paul Herget (January 30, 1908 – August 27, 1981) was an American astronomer and director of the Cincinnati Observatory, who established the Minor Planet Center after World War II. Career Herget taught astronomy at the University of Cincinna ...

in 1955 ().

Death

On June 8, 1950, he suffered a heart attack while visiting the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. He was buried in

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

External links

"Who Was Thomas Whittemore", at Dumbarton Oaks
* William L. MacDonald
"Whittemore, Thomas", ''Dictionary of Art Historians''

Laurian Douthett, "The Leading Protagonist: Thomas Whittemore", May 10, 2013

Thomas Whittemore papers, ca. 1875-1966, at Dumbarton Oaks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittemore, Thomas 1871 births 1950 deaths 20th-century American archaeologists Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni American Byzantinists People from Cambridge, Massachusetts Historians from Massachusetts Historians of Byzantine art Byzantine archaeologists Hagia Sophia Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery