Sergei Aleksandrovich Zhebelev (22 September 1867 – 28 December 1941) was a Russian historian and archaeologist who was recognised as an authority on ancient Greek history. Zhebelev graduated from Saint Petersburg University in 1890 and was appointed professor there in 1904. He translated Plato, Aristotle, and other classical thinkers into Russian. In 1923 he produced a textbook on archaeology. In 1921 Zhebelev reproached himself for his liberal attitude towards Jews, suggesting that he had contributed towards 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 ...

by allowing a Jew to remain at the university. Zhebelev was elected to the

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

in 1927. However he submitted an article to a book celebrating the work of Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov published by the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

based Kondakov Seminar. His introductory article was then criticised by Ivan Luppol of the Union of Scientific Workers on the following grounds: * Zhebelev had remarked that by 1918, the year of Smirnov's death, "the hard years had already begun" * that the Kondakov Seminar was the best place for the book to be published as Smirnov had been a pupil of

Nikodim Kondakov Nikodim (or Nikodeme) Pavlovich Kondakov (; 1 (13) November 1844, Olshanka, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire– 17 February 1925, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was an art historian with special expertise in the history of Russian and ...

* that Smirnov's research had been uninfluenced by the "science of art", sociology or "any other similar modish tendencies." Luppol interpreted these as revealing a negative attitude to soviet science, claiming that the last point indicated a rejection of the approach of

Nikolai Marr Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (, ''Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr''; , ''Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari''; — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking o ...

who had argued that archaeology and sociology were necessarily linked. Luppol pursued the matter with calls for Zhebelev's expulsion from the Academy of Science on the basis of new charter adopted in 1927. The Academy resisted this, citing Zhebelev's 11 year record of work, but criticised him for his participation in the publication. Zhebelev published an apology in which he criticised the historian

Michael Rostovtzeff Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (; – October 20, 1952), was a Russian historian whose career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and who produced important works on ancient Roman and Greek history. He served as president of t ...

– a criticism he was to retract later in private. He was a member of the Institute of the History of Material Culture in Leningrad, where he died of hunger during the

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

in 1941. Shortly before his death he remarked to

Joseph Orbeli Joseph Orbeli (, Hovsep Abgari Orbeli; ; 20 March ( O.S. 8 March) 1887 – 2 February 1961) was a Soviet-Armenian orientalist, public figure and academician who specialized in medieval history of Transcaucasia and administered the Hermitage Museu ...

: "I am so glad, that science continues to develop with us even under such difficult conditions. This is the way we scholars fight Fascism.”

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhebelev, Sergey 1867 births 1941 deaths Historians from the Russian Empire Russian classical scholars Archaeologists from Saint Petersburg Members of the Saint Petersburg Institute of History Victims of the Siege of Leningrad Deaths by starvation Rectors of Saint Petersburg State University