On February 28, 2012, Theodore Adamovich Shumovsky, Doctor of Historical Sciences, a leading expert in the field of medieval Arabic marine geography, the oldest representative of the academic school of Russian Arabic studies that developed around I. Y. Krachkovsky, died. He was born on February 2, 1913 in an intelligent Polish family in Zhytomyr. In 1932, TA. Shumovsky entered the Mining Institute in Moscow, but after studying for a semester, he felt an attraction to Arabic studies and moved to the Leningrad Historical and Linguistic Institute, which in 1934 was transformed into the History Department of Leningrad State University (LSU). In his senior years, he studied under the well-known Arabists N. V. Yushmanov, K. V. Ode-Vasilyeva, V. I. Belyaev, A. Y. Yakubovsky, V. A. Krachkovskaya, and listened to lectures by the Caucasian scholar A. N. Genko. By 1935, he had become a student of I. Y. Krachkovsky, who was the first person in Russia to study the history of Arab navigation. At the beginning of 1938, as a fifth-year student, he began work on his first publication, three Arabic stories by Ahmad B. Majid, who had guided Vasco de Gama's ships from East Africa to India.

On the eve of graduating from the university, Shumovsky's scientific career was interrupted for a long time. On the night of February 10-11, 1938, together with LSU students L. N. Gumilyov and N. P. Yerikhovich, he was arrested in the case of the anti-Soviet "progressivist party" fabricated by the NKVD. All three were convicted and sent to camps, where, despite the difficult living conditions, Shumovsky studied various languages, from Finnish to Chinese. He did not give up hope to return to scientific work, which was achieved after the liberation (1944) with the support of I. Y. Krachkovsky and the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies V. V. Struve. After graduating from Leningrad State University in 1946, in 1948 Shumovsky defended his PhD thesis on the manuscript "Books of Uses" by Ahmad B. Majid. Soon after the defense, he began to transfer her, but in January 1949, he was again arrested and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in Ozerlag in the Krasnodar Territory. Stalin's death and the end of mass political repressions allowed him to be released in 1956. Shumovsky achieved this goal in 1963.

From 1956 to 1979, he worked in the Arabic office of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Leningrad. According to the memoirs of the scientist himself, in the first time after his release, the outstanding Syriologist and Byzantologist N. V. Pigulevskaya and academician I. L. Orbeli helped him a lot. In 1957, on the basis of his dissertation, he prepared a critical edition of the Three Unknown Pilots of Ahmad ibn Majid, the Arab pilot Vasco da Gama. This publication was partly aided by the intensification of Soviet policy in the Arab Middle East and the Soviet Union's support for the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956. The book contained a dedication to " freedom-loving Arab peoples with the wish of great happy voyages." The work immediately aroused interest in Europe and in the "third world" countries, reviews of it appeared in Brazil, Tanzania and Kuwait. It was translated into Portuguese in 1960 and Arabic in 1966.

In 1965, the Russian translation of the "Book of Uses" was published, before that five times (!) recycled TA. Shumovsky. The translator himself later called the first version "artisan" and literal. He deliberately stylized the fourth version of it to match the Russian language of the XVIII-XIX centuries, trying to convey the historical flavor of the manuscript of the XV century in this way, but in the final version he decided to do without archaisms in the main. "The Book of Uses" brought Shumovsky fame in Oriental studies in the USSR and abroad. In 1968, on the basis of this theory, he defended his doctoral dissertation "The Arab Sea Encyclopedia of the XV century" in Moscow. At the same time, his hypothesis about the ancient maritime tradition among the Arabs caused great scientific controversy, which negatively affected Shumovsky's reputation in the academic circles of Leningrad.

By the autumn of 1974, work was completed on the translation of another monument of Arab maritime science-the early sixteenth-century lot of a younger contemporary of Ahmad B. Majid Sulaiman al-Mahri from Hadramaut. The work has the traditional rhymed Arabic title "Al -' Umda al-mahriyya fi dabt al - 'uloom al-bahriyya" ("Mahri reference for determining the [foundations] of marine sciences"). It explains in detail the principles of maritime navigation, the measurement of the positions of stars and constellations, the features of navigation in the Indian Ocean and its main routes. Al-Mahri's navigation manual was used and commented on by Ottoman pilots, in particular the 16th-century admiral. Sidi Ali Celebi, and a 17th-century encyclopedist. Haji Khalifa. The manuscript of the translation was recommended for publication, taking into account the critical comments of colleagues T. A. Shumovsky, O. G. Bolshakov and O. B. Frolova, but the translator did not want to listen to them, not agreeing with the conclusions of colleagues. Work on the publication was discontinued, and the essay was published only in 2011 after revision under the editorship of the St. Petersburg orientalist A. S. Matveev.

Shumovsky did a lot to popularize Oriental source studies. In 1962, he completed and in 1964 published the popular science work "The Arabs and the Sea. Through the pages of manuscripts and books", timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the appearance of Ahmad B. Majid's poem on the basics of the science of the seas, completed in 1462. The book was addressed to the widest range of readers interested in the Arab-Muslim East. Its purpose was to show that in the past the Arabs were much more closely connected to the sea than is generally believed. According to T. A. Shumovsky, the numerous Arabic names of constellations that have entered European languages are evidence of the existence of advanced navigation among the ancient Arabs. The example of Ahmad B. Majid shows that Arab pilots also participated in the sea expeditions of European explorers. Not all of the book's conclusions are supported by concrete historical facts. Sometimes they seem paradoxical, but in general, the work makes you think about the role of navigation in the development of ancient and medieval Arabia. Similar conclusions were reached by the classic of Russian Oriental studies V. V. Barthold, who pointed out the existence of maritime references in the Koran, and Western medievalists, who rejected the prevailing view of Henri Pirenne in the past that the creation of the Arab Caliphate permanently interrupted the maritime contacts of Europe with Asia.

After leaving the Institute of Oriental Studies, Shumovsky continued to study manuscripts on late medieval Arabic maritime geography. In 1984-1985, he published the critical edition of Ahmad B. Majid's "Arab Sea Encyclopedia" in 2 volumes. In the following year, 1986, his popular science book " In the footsteps of Sinbad the Mariner. Oceanic Arabia". Finally, in 1999, the publishing house of St. Petersburg University published Shumovsky's monograph "The Last Lion of the Arab Seas: The Life of the Arab navigator and poet Ahmad ibn Majid, mentor of Vasco da Gama".

Working on Arabic manuscripts, many of which were composed in verse, Shumovsky came up with the idea of the need to convey their form by artistic means

Russian language. In his opinion, the literal presentation of the content of the Arabic text adopted in academic Oriental Studies kills the artistic form of the work, depriving the Russian reader of the opportunity to experience the same feelings that an Arab feels when reading the original. Shumovsky managed to realize his ideas of literary translation from literary Arabic into Russian in the first Russian verse translation of the Koran, which he was engaged in from the 80s of the XX century to 1995. This translation caused a lot of criticism among Islamic scholars, but it has already passed through more than seven editions.

Throughout his life, Shumovsky not only translated a lot, but also wrote his own poems. The scientist worked on an anthology of his poetic translations from Eastern languages in the last years of his life. Especially worth mentioning is the Arabic "Divan" of a certain Shirvan poet " Ata " Allah Arrani, whose manuscript, according to Shumovsky, he accidentally discovered as a student in the basement of one of the Shamakhi mosques, then lost it during the first arrest and restored it from memory after his release. The existence of the original Arrani has long been questionable. The St. Petersburg orientalist A. A. Dolinina calls Shumovsky's translation a falsification. However, it is more likely that we are dealing here with a literary hoax. Interestingly, the name ' Ata ' Allah is the Arabic equivalent of the Greek name Theodore, which was worn by the "translator" himself. The content of most of the Divan's poems is a sharp criticism of the authorities and the court environment. It can be assumed that under the name of Arrani, Shumovsky could express his feelings about the repression of dissidents, bypassing the obstacles of Soviet censorship.

Life brought Shumovsky into contact with a number of remarkable scientists and thinkers. He left their portraits in his memoirs, which he turned to back in the 1970s. To some extent, he drew on the memoirs of his teacher I. Y. Krachkovsky, whose essays "On Arabic Manuscripts" survived many reprints in Soviet times. He polemicized with them in the books " By the Sea of Arabic studies. Through the Pages of Memory and Unpublished Documents "(1975) and "Memoirs of an Arabist" (1977). Censorship prevented Shumovsky from touching on his imprisonment and exile. There are many omissions in both books. A more complete and frank version of the memoirs appeared only in 2006 under the title "Light from the East "(2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 2009). In addition to his ordeal in prisons and camps, Shumovsky described his childhood and youth in Transcaucasia, the difficult path to science, and the role of the Arab-Muslim East for Russian culture. The main core of the book is the problems of Oriental studies and scientific creativity in the XX century.

Teodor Adamovich lived a long, difficult, but bright life, about the works and findings of which he vividly described in his books. He always had a passion for his subject, a sharp rejection of the dullness and self-satisfied boredom in science. Seriously interested in poetry, he could not help but romanticize his own research. However, this romantic fantasy was not evidence of projecting or bad faith. It was a living beginning that allowed the artist and scientist to create.

P. V. BASHARIN, V. O. BOBROVNIKOV ¹

MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF T. A. SHUMOVSKY*

Doct. dis: Arabs and the sea. Prehistory of the activities of Ahmad Ibn Majid, pilot of Vasco da Gama: (Cycle of research), Moscow, 1967, 311 p.

Arab cartography in its origin and development, Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo geograficheskogo obshchestva, vol. 79, Issue 5, l., 1947, pp. 571-584.

Three unknown lots of Ahmad ibn Majid, the Arab pilot Vasco da Gama, in a unique manuscript of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Moscow-L., 1957. 195 p. The same: Lisboa, 1960. 200 p. In Portuguese; Damascus, 1966; Cairo, 1969. 195 p. In Arabic.

Arab Sea navigation before Islam / / Strany i narody Vostoka [Countries and peoples of the East], Moscow, 1959, issue 1, pp. 162-193.

Arabic routes as historical and literary monuments of a new quality // Research on the cultural history of the peoples of the East. Collection in honor of Academician I. A. Orbeli, Moscow, 1960, pp. 511-517.

A indentificacao do piloto arabe ve Vasco da Gama // Ocedente. Vol. 59. Lisboa, 1960. No. 268. P. 67-75.

¹ The authors of the review are grateful to Shumovsky's son Vladislav Tsodorovich for providing them with biographical information and clarifications.

* Compiled by P. V. Basharin, V. O. Bobrovnikov, and S. D. Miliband.

An Arab Nautical Encyclopedia of the Fifteenth Century // Congresso International de História dos Descobrimentos. Resumo das comunicações. Lisboa, 1960. P. 109-112.

Theory and practice in Arabic geography // Strany i narody Vostoka [Countries and Peoples of the East], Moscow, 1961, issue II, pp. 143-159. Ibid.: Sinbad and Ahmad ibn Majid, pp. 160-168.

Una enciclopedia maritime árabe do século XV // II Congresso International de História dos Descobrimentos. Resumo das comunicações. Lisboa, 1961. 15 p.

On the issue of identification of two Muslim maps in the Russian translation of "Safar-Nam" by Nasir-i Khusrau / / Materials of the Eastern Commission, L., 1962, Issue 1, pp. 47-54.

Nachalo izucheniya arabyskikh lotsii XV XVI vv.: o novoi otrasli sovetskoi arabistiki [The beginning of the study of Arabic lots in the XV-XVI centuries: on the new branch of Soviet Arabic Studies]. Kratkiej posty Instituta narodov Azii AN CCCR Issue 61. Drevnyj Vostok, India, Kitai, Japan, Thailand, Moscow, 1963, pp. 188-199.

Arabs and the Sea: on the pages of manuscripts and books. Moscow, 1964. 192 p. 2nd ed. Moscow, 2010. 191c.

Arab sea navigation at the time of Islam / / Countries and peoples of the East, Moscow, 1964. Issue III. pp. 142-163.

A new problem of the medieval history of the Arabs: the Arabs and the Sea / / Countries and peoples of the East. 1965. Issue IV. pp. 226-231.

Two chapters from the encyclopedia of Arab marine geography of the XV century / / Countries and peoples of the East. 1969. Issue VIII. Geografiya, etnografiya, istoriya [Geography, Ethnography, history]. pp. 30-37.

By the sea of Arabic studies: Po pagam pamyati i neizdannykh dokumentov [On pages of memory and unpublished documents], Moscow, 1975, 344 p.

"The Great Islands" in the maritime encyclopedia of Ahmad ibn Majid (XV century) / / Countries and peoples of the East. 1976. Issue XVIII. pp. 135-172.

Memoirs of an Arabist, L., 1977, 172 p.

Ocherki istorii arabyskoi kul'tury V-XV vvakh [Essays on the history of Arab Culture in the V-XV centuries]. Moscow, 1982, pp. 357-410.

Ahmad Ibn Majid, Shihabaddin. Kniga polz ob osnovakhi i pravilakh morskoy nauki: Araby morskoy entsiklopediya XV V. [The Book of Uses on the basics and rules of Marine Science: The Arab Marine Encyclopedia of the XV century]. and decree, Moscow, 1985, 592 p.; Vol. 2. Kritich. text, comment. and the decree. Moscow, 1984, 266 p.

In the footsteps of Sinbad the Mariner. Oceanic Arabia: a historical and geographical essay, Moscow, 1986, 141 p., map, fig.

Arabic manuscripts of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Short catalog, Moscow, 1986. Ch. 1. 592 p.; Ch. 2. 268 p. (sovm. with others)

The Koran. The Holy Book of Muslims / Translated from Arabic by T. A. Shumovsky, Moscow, 1995, 528 p. 2nd ed. The Holy Quran: Pages of Eternal Thoughts, St. Petersburg, 2001; 3rd ed., Moscow, 2004.

The last "lion of the Arabian seas". Life of the Arab navigator and poet Ahmad ibn Majid, mentor of Vasco da Gama. St. Petersburg, 1999.212 p.

Wanderings of Words, St. Petersburg, 2004, 336 p.

Svet s Vostoka [Light from the East], St. Petersburg, 2006, 356 p. 2nd ed., St. Petersburg, 2009.

Al-Mahri, Sulaiman. Mahriyskaya opora dlya otochnogo opredeleniya [Mahriyskaya opora dlya otochnogo opredeleniya [Mahriyskaya opora for precise determination of marine Sciences]. T. A. Shumovsky. Subg. k ed., supracomm. and English abstract by A. S. Matveeva, Moscow, 2011.348 p.

Permanent link to this publication: