Sirarpie Der Nersessian (5 September 18965 July 1989) was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, who specialized in

and

Byzantine studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. ...

. Der Nersessian was a renowned academic and a pioneer in Armenian art history. She taught at several institutions in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, including

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in Massachusetts and as Henri Focillon Professor of Art and Archaeology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She was a

senior fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife ...

, its deputy director from 1954 to 1955 and 1961–62, and a member of its Board of Scholars. Der Nersessian was also a member of several international institutions such as the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

(1975), the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

(1978), and the

Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates acti ...

(1966). By the 1970s, she was recognized as the leading scholar in Armenian studies.

Biography

Education

Der Nersessian was born the youngest of three children in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1896. She came from a well-to-do family (her maternal uncle was then- Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Malachia Ormanian). Her parents died while she was still young: her mother Akabi, when she was nine, and her father Mihran, when she was eighteen. She attended the Esayan Academy and the English High School for Girls in Constantinople, gaining fluency in Armenian, English and French at an early age. In 1915, during the height of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

, Der Nersessian and her sister Arax (by then orphans) were forced to leave for Europe, settling in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Der Nersessian studied at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

for several years until moving to

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1919. Der Nersessian was admitted to the Sorbonne, where she studied history in the École des Hautes Études de l'université de Paris. She worked under the Byzantine scholars Charles Diehl and Gabriel Millet and art historian Henri Focillon. In 1922, she became Millet's assistant, and with his help, published one of her first articles in 1929. The two theses (graduates students then had to submit two theses) that she presented for her ''doctorat d'etat'', "L'illustration du roman de Barlaam et Joasaph" and a paper on Armenian illuminated manuscripts during the late medieval period, were well-received (earning a ''Mention très honorable''), and both were awarded with prizes by the

and ''Revue des Études Grecques'' when they were published in 1937.

Professor and pioneer

In 1930, Der Nersessian moved to the

at the suggestion of her three mentors, Byzantinists Charles Rufus Morey, Albert M. Friend Jr., and Walter Cook, becoming a part-time lecturer at

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 ...

. She taught art history at Wellesley, quickly being promoted to full professor and later becoming the department chair of the art history program and director of the Farnsworth Museum (now the Davis Museum). Der Nersessian was the first woman to teach Byzantine art at a women's college, the first woman to be decorated with the medal of Saint Gregory the Illuminator by Catholicos Vazgen I in 1960, the first woman invited to lecture at the Collège de France in Paris, the only woman in her time to gain full professorship at Dumbarton Oaks, and the second woman to be honored with a gold medal from the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1970. In 1947, she received the Achievement Award from the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...

. Der Nersessian remained at Dumbarton Oaks until 1978, when she retired to France and lived with her sister in Paris. Upon retirement, she had her entire library shipped to the Matenadaran in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, so as to better help Armenian scholars in their studies. Shortly after her death in 1989, an endowment fund for prospective art history students in Armenia, the Fonds Sirarpie Der Neressian at the Institut de Recherches sur les Miniatures Arméno-Byzantines, was created in her honor.

Select bibliography

Der Nersessian's scholarly output chiefly focused on art history, and more specifically on the study of

church architecture Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as Church (building), churches, chapels, convents, and seminaries. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly ...

illuminated manuscripts An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

, miniatures and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Her 1945 book ''Armenia and the Byzantine Empire'' was praised by art historians David Talbot Rice, Jurgis Baltrušaitis, and Alexander Vasiliev. Vasiliev wrote in his review of the book that she was "the best authority of our day on Armenian history, art, and civilization." Vrej Nersessian described her ''Armenian art'' (1979, French: 1977) as the "most comprehensive and most beautiful book" on the subject. Below is a partial list of books and articles that she authored.For a more comprehensive list, see: Dumbarton Oaks Papers. "Sirarpie Der Nersessian." ''Dumbarton Oaks'' 21 (1967): pp. 1-5.

Books

*''Armenia and the Byzantine Empire''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1945. *''Aght'amar: Church of the Holy Cross''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964. *''Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery''. Baltimore: The Trustees, 1973. *''Armenian Miniatures from Isfahan''. Brussels: Les Editeurs d’Art Associés, 1986. *''The Armenians''. New York: Praeger, 1969. * ''L'Art arménien''. Paris: Art européen. Publications filmées d'art et d'histoire, 1965. * ''L'illustration du roman de Barlaam et Joasaph''. Paris: de Boccard, 1937. *''Miniature Painting in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from the Twelfth to the Fourteenth Century''. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Studies, 1993.

Articles and chapters

*"The Armenian Chronicle of the Constable Smpad or of the 'Royal Historian.'" ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 13 (1959): pp. 141–168. *"An Armenian Gospel of the Fifteenth Century," ''The Boston Public Library Quarterly'' 2 (1950): pp. 3–20. * "A General View of the Manuscripts of San Lazarro." '' Bazmavep'' (1947): pp. 269–272. *"Pagan and Christian Art in Egypt. An exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum." ''The Art Bulletin'' 33 (1941): pp. 165–167. *"Two Miracles of the Virgin in the Poems of Gautier de Coincy," ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 41 (1987): pp. 157–163. *"The Kingdom of Cilician Armenia," in Kenneth M. Setton, ed., ''A History of the Crusades'', vol. 2: ''The Later Crusades, 1189-1311''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1969.

References

External links

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Papers and Photographs
Dumbarton Oaks. {{DEFAULTSORT:Der Nersessian, Sirarpie 1896 births 1989 deaths Writers from Istanbul Armenian art historians Armenian women historians French Byzantinists Wellesley College faculty Harvard University faculty University of Paris alumni Women art historians Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America 20th-century Armenian historians 20th-century Armenian women writers 20th-century Armenian writers Armenian Byzantinists French women historians Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Scholars of Byzantine history Women Byzantinists Women medievalists 20th-century French women writers Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to France Historians of Byzantine art Armenian refugees