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Max van Berchem

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Max van Berchem
Born16 March 1863
Geneva
Died7 March 1921 (1921-03-08) (aged 57)
Vaumarcus
Signature

Edmond Maximilien Berthout van Berchem (16 March 1863, Geneva – 7 March 1921, Vaumarcus) commonly known as Max van Berchem, was a Swiss epigraphist and historian. Best known as the founder of Arabic epigraphy in the Western world, he was the mastermind of the Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum, an international collaboration among eminent scholars to collect and publish Arabic inscriptions from the Middle East.

Life

Family background

Max (left) with his brothers Paul (center) and Victor (right) and their widowed mother around 1872
Paul, Max, and Victor (from left) performing music

Berchem originated from a dynasty of Flemish aristocrats in the former Duchy of Brabant whose roots are traced back to the 11th century. The only branch which survived until today is the one that converted to Protestantism and emigrated with the Anabaptist leader David Joris to Basel in 1544.[1]

Élisabeth with Marguerite

After changing their locations a number of times, those van Berchems settled in what is now Romandy, the French-speaking Western part of Switzerland, around 1764/65 and became citizens of the republic and canton of Geneva in 1816.[2] Due to a "possible" family link with the otherwise extinct feudal house of the Berthout, the Swiss branch of the van Berchem family carried that surname since the 18th century as well.[1] It acquired considerable wealth through marriages with other patrician families[2] like the Saladin and the Sarasin.[1] Max van Berchem's principal biographer Charles Genequand, a retired professor of Arabic philosophy and Islamic history, points out that both names – Saladin and Sarasin – sound Arabic and are thus a «striking illustration of the ancient Roman principle of nomen-omen.»[3]


Max van Berchem's parents Alexandre (1836-1872), who inherited the Château de Crans from his maternal family side of Saladin, and Mathilde (née Sarasin,1838-1917), who inherited the Château des Bois in Satigny,[4] were rentiers, who received an income from their assets and investments.[5] The fact that they were both buried at the Cimetière des Rois ("Cemetery of Kings"), the city's "Panthéon" in Plainpalais, where the right to rest is strictly limited to distinguished personalities, illustrates the privilged status they enjoyed in Geneva's society.[6] They were part of the patrician class which

«turned to banking and philanthropic activities at the end of the 19th century, after losing control of the major public offices in Geneva.»[7]

Max was born in the Rue des Granges 12 of Geneva's Old Town as the second child of his parents after his brother Paul (1861-1947), who wnt on to become a pioneer physicist specialised in telegraphy, a member of the Grand Council of Vaud and military officer.[8] In the following year, his brother Victor (1864-1938) was born, who went on to became a prominent historian and member of the Calvinist ecclesiastical court of the Protestant Church of Geneva. He also volunteered at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).[9][10]

After the early death of their father, the three brothers were raised by their mother with the help of her father Horace Sarasin (1808-1882) and her brother Edmond Sarasin (1843-1890). Max entertained a particularly close relationship with his mother, which he expressed in frequent exchanges of letter.[3]

On 9 June 1891, Max van Berchem got married to Elisabeth Lucile Frossard de Saugy,[4] whose artistocratic parents both had a background of serving at the royal court of Bavaria.[11][12] On 11 April 1892, Elisabeth gave birth to Marguerite Augusta. However, barely a year later, on 2 June 1893, Elisabeth "tragically"[3] died in Satigny when she was just 23 years old.[13]

On 25 March 1896, Max van Berchem got remarried to Alice Catherine Naville.[4] Her father Albert (1841–1912) was a teacher of history at a girls college[14] and hailed from Geneva's second-oldest family.[15] Max's brother Victor was married since 1893 to Isabelle Blanche Naville, the daughter of the Egyptologist Edouard Naville, from another branch of that family.[16] Alice's mother was a scioness of another prominent family, best known for their theologians: the Turrettini.[5] Max van Berchem's maternal grandmother was born Turrettini as well,[4] wherefore the Château des Bois was also called Turretin.[3]

Max and Alice van Berchem had six children, five daughters and one son: Marie Rachel (1897-1953), Marcelle Thérèse Marguerite (1898-1953), Hélène (1900-1968), Horace Victor (1904-1982), Irène (1906-1995), and Thérèse Marguerite (1909-1995).[4] In the extensive letter correspondences of Max van Berchem, who suffered from bouts of depression during much of his adult life, the first-born Marguerite was the only one of his seven children though, who he distinctly mentioned. [3]

Education

In 1877, at the age of fourteen years, Max van Berchem moved to Stuttgart with his brother Paul to attend a secondary school for two years. From 1879 until 1881 he completed his secondary education in Geneva.

In 1881 he moved to Leipzig to study ancient and oriental languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Assyrian, Persian etc.) and art history. A major source of inspiration for his interest and the choices of his studies was van Berchem's elder cousin Lucien Gautier (1850-1924), a professor of Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis at the University of Lausanne. One of his teachers at Leipzig University was Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer (1801-1888), the founder of Arab studies in Germany who himself had studied under the mentorship of Silvestre de Sacy - the founder of Arab studies in the Western world - in Paris.

In April 1883, Max van Berchem moved to Strasbourg to study during the summer semester at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-University under the mentorship of Theodor Nöldeke (1836-1930), another eminent German orientalist and author of the standard work "The History of the Qur’ān". In the summer of that year, van Berchem returned to Switzerland to do a part of his military service.

In late 1883, Max van Berchem moved to Berlin to continue his studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, where he joined his brother Victor. His main academic inspiration there became Eduard Sachau (1845-1930), a professor for Semitic philology who - unlike some of his "armchair" colleagues - based his expertise also on travels in the Middle East. In the summer of the following year, van Berchem once again returned to Switzerland to do another part of his military service.

Sachau also became the supervisor of his doctoral thesis on land ownership and land tax under the rule of the first caliphate (La propriété territorial et l'impôt sous les premiers califes) which he defended in 1885 at Leipzig University.

In 1886, Max van Berchem participated in the 7th Congress of Orientalists in Vienna with Édouard Naville, who seven years later became the father-in-law of his brother Victor (see above).

In the same year, he and his mother travelled for the first time to Egypt, where he was reunited with Édouard Naville and took Arabic lessons.

Following his departure from Egypt in 1887, he undertook studies in numismatics in London.

In 1888, Max van Berchem returned to Egypt, accompanied by his brother Victor. They also travelled to Syria.[3]

Research activities

Following his participation at the 8th Congress of Orientalists in Stockholm, Max van Berchem returned in 1889 to Cairo where he started a campaign to systematically collect Arabic inscriptions.

In 1892 he laid out his plan to create a compendium of Arabic inscriptions in a letter to the eminent orientalist Charles Barbier de Meynard. In the same year he returned to Egypt, this time with his wife Elisabeth, to resume his campaign to catalogue inscription. They also travelled together to Palestine and Syria for this purpose.

After the death of his wife in 1893, van Berchem travelled to Jerusalem and Damascus in the same year. Following his return to Geneva in 1894 he joined the organising committee of the 10th Congress of Orientalists which was held in Geneva and chaired by Édouard Naville, the father-in-law of his brother Victor. In the same year, he published the first volume of the Corpus, which dealt with inscriptions in Cairo.[3]

In 1895, van Berchem travelled once again to Syria, this time with the architect Edmond Fatio,[17] who originated from another Patrician family in Geneva and was - like Victor van Berchem - married to a daughter of Edouard Naville.[18]

Following his return to Europe in 1895, Max van Berchem went to Paris. During an extended stay there, which lasted until 1896, he prepared several study papers and networked with other orientalists.[3]

Subsequently, van Berchem embarked on several more expeditions to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. On these journeys he studied and collected a vast amount of Arabic inscriptions ("Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum"). Being aware of the enormity of this project, he divided the work amongst others, mostly French and German scholars, with Berchem, for the most part, limiting his personal investigations to the cities of Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus. In his work, he used photography as a means to record Arabic inscriptions. Between 1895 and 1914, he dedicated most of his time and energy towards the publication of the large amount of textual material that he had accumulated.[19]

Legacy

The centennial exhibition at the MAH-gallery

Still in 1921, van Berchem's widow Alice donated a part of his collection of artefacts to Geneva's Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH).[20]

Van Berchem's work was partly continued by his oldest daughter Marguerite Gautier-Van Berchem (1892 – 1984) who also played a prominent role in the ICRC since the First World War. Following what was apparently her father's wish, she focused her interest on mosaics.[21] In later years, she particularly focused on exploring the ruins of Sedrata in the Algerian Sahara.[22]

In 1971, Gautier-van Berchem and her half-brother Horace donated the archives of their father to the Bibliothèque de Genève.[23] Two years later, upon the initiative of Gautier-van Berchem, the Fondation Max van Berchem was established.[24] The Bibliothèque de Genève kept the ownership of the archives but in 1987 deposited its main part on the premises of the Foundation in the Champel quarter of Geneva, with the exception of van Berchem's correspondences and the Etienne Combe papers.[23]

Thus, the Foundation with the main archives and its specialised library serves on the one hand side as a documentation centre for Arabic epigraphy. One the other side, it also funds archaeological missions, research programs and study projects about Islamic art and architecture in a multitude of countries, not only in the Arabic world.[24] As of 2021, the Foundation's Board is made up of four members of the van Berchem and Gautier families. The president of the foundation's scientific committee is a member as well.[25] The scientific committee, which was created in 1985, advises the board on project proposals. It consists of ten international experts, including one family member.[26]

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Max van Berchem's death, the MAH has been honouring him in cooperation with his namesake foundation and the Bibliothèque de Genève since 16 April 2021 (until 6 June) by hosting the exposition

«The adventure of Arabic epigraphy».[27]

Associated works

  • Inscriptions arabes de Syrie, 1897 – Arab inscriptions of Syria.
  • Epigraphie des Assassins de Syrie, 1897 – Epigraphy of the Assassins of Syria.
  • Materialien zur älteren geschichte Armeniens und Mesopotamiens, (with Carl Ferdinand Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt), 1906 – Materials pertaining to the ancient history of the Armenians and Mesopotamians.
  • Amida: Matériaux pour l'épigraphie et l'histoire musulmanes du Diyar-bekr, 1910 – Amida, material pertaining to the epigraphy and Islamic history of Diyarbakır.
  • Voyage en Syrie, 1913 – Voyage to Syria.
  • "Opera minora".
  • La Correspondance entre Max Van Berchem et Louis Massignon : 1907-1919 – Correspondence with Louis Massignon, 1907–1919.
  • Max van Berchem, 1863–1921: Hommages rendus à sa mémoire, by Alice van Berchem (1923).
  • La Jérusalem musulmane dans l'œuvre de Max van Berchem by Marguerite Gautier-van Berchem, (1978).
  • "Muslim Jerusalem in the work of Max van Berchem", by Marguerite Gautier-van Berchem (1982).[28]
  • "Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae addendum squeezes in the Max van Berchem collection (Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Northern Syria) : squeezes 1-84", (2007).[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Santschi, Catherine (2012-04-13). "Berchem, van". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b van Berchem, Costin. "Portrait de Famille | Ranst-Berchem". www.ranst-berchem.org (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Genequand, Charles (2021). Max van Berchem, un orientaliste (in French). Geneva: Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2600062671.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rosselat, Lionel. "Family tree of Maximilien Edmond Berthout van Berchem". Geneanet. Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b Santschi, Catherine (2004-05-11). "Berchem, Max van". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Cimetière des Rois (Plainpalais)". www.geneve.ch (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  7. ^ Meyre, Camille (2020-03-12). "Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer". Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library. Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ van Berchem, Costin (2012). "Paul van Berchem, chef de famille (1861-1947)" (PDF). Ranst-Berchem.org (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ van Berchem, Costin (2012). "Victor van Berchem, historien (1864-1938)" (PDF). Ranst-Berchem.org (in French).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Santschi, Catherine (2004-05-11). "Berchem, Victor van". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Rossellat, Lionel. "Family tree of Edouard Jean Frossard de Saugy". Geneanet. Retrieved 2021-05-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Rossellat, Lionel. "Family tree of Pauline Natalie de Rotenhan". Geneanet. Retrieved 2021-05-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Rosselat, Lionel. "Family tree of Elisabeth Lucile Frossard de Saugy". Geneanet. Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Albert Naville (1841-1912)". Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Fiscalini, Diego (1985). Des élites au service d'une cause humanitaire : le Comité International de la Croix-Rouge (in French). Genf: Université de Genève, faculté des lettres, département d'histoire. pp. 18, 119.
  16. ^ Rossellat, Lionel. "Family tree of Victor Auguste Berthout van Berchem". Geneanet. Retrieved 2021-05-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ van Berchem, Max; Fatio, Edmond (1914–1915). Voyage en Syrie (in French). Vol. 37. Cairo: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: date format (link)
  18. ^ Python, Frédéric Sébastien (2007). Edmond Fatio (1871—1959): villas genevoises: architecture patriotique (PDF) (in French). Geneva: Univ. Genève. p. 14.
  19. ^ Fondation Max van Berchem (biography)
  20. ^ "Max van Berchem's centennial". Fondation Max van Berchem (in French). Retrieved 2021-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Zayadine, Fawzi (1984). "Islamic Art and Archaeology in the Publications of Marguerite Gautier-Van Berchem" (PDF). Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. 28: 203–210.
  22. ^ "Marguerite Gautier-Van Berchem, une figure emblématique". Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  23. ^ a b "CH BGE Arch. Max van Berchem 1-38". Bibliothèque de Genève - Manuscrits et archives privées (in French). Retrieved 2021-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ a b "Introduction". Fondation Max van Berchem. Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ "Foundation's Board". Fondation Max van Berchem. Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ "Scientific Committee". Fondation Max van Berchem. Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ "Max van Berchem: The adventure of Arabic epigraphy". Musée d'Art et d'histoire, Ville de Genève (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ OCLC Classify publications
  29. ^ Open Library Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae
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