Pavel Florenskij and the Armenian Destiny

Abstract

This paper examines the Armenian side of the well-known Russian theologian and scientist Pavel Florenskij (1882-1937). His mother belonged to a noble family from Karabakh, but because of her particular personal and family situation she did not give her son an Armenian education. Therefore Florenskji grew up with Russian, rather than Armenian, culture. Nevertheless, in the second part of his life he paid great attention to his Armenian origin, mainly from the genealogical point of view. However, in his letters to his children – partially written in Soviet lagers, where in the end he was shot – Pavel Florenskij revealed an attitude of substantial, though painful, extraneousness to his Armenian identity; an attitude stemming not only from his unique family situation, but also from a certain underestimation of the vitality of a people able to withstand even the toughest tests in history.