11 Facts About Joseph Orbeli

Joseph Orbeli was the founder and first president of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

Joseph Orbeli studied history and philology and graduated from the university in 1911.

Joseph Orbeli became the director of an on-site museum that was established at Ani and, during Marr's absences, frequently headed the excavations himself.

Joseph Orbeli traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh, gathering and categorizing lithographic material.

Joseph Orbeli managed to travel to Western Armenia, where he was able to study Armenian, Seljuk, and Urartian monuments and conduct research on Armenian and Kurdish dialects.

Gradually, Joseph Orbeli was emerging as the leading authority on Armenian antiquities in the world.

Joseph Orbeli continued his work at Saint Petersburg University; in 1917, he was appointed an assistant professor of Armenian-Georgian studies, but occasionally taught at Moscow's Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages as well.

In December 1941, the deadliest month of the Siege of Leningrad, Joseph Orbeli led a festival dedicated to Ali-Shir Nava'i, a medieval Turkic poet and philosopher.

Joseph Orbeli considerably enhanced the museum's holdings of Oriental art, making it one of the top Oriental art museums in the world.

Joseph Orbeli underscored the importance of linguistic studies for proper understanding of historical processes.

Joseph Orbeli was featured in the movie Russian Ark as the director of the Hermitage.