Kasem-bek Aleksander (Mohammed Ali Mirza)

Kasem-bek Aleksander (Mohammed Ali Mirza) (1802–1870) – Orientalist.

In 1826, he was assigned to the Kazan’ University as Lecturer in Arabic and Persian languages. In 1828, he became Head of the Chair of Turkish-Tartar language. In 1829, he became Honuored Member of the British Royal Asian Society. In 1831, he got his Master degree and a position of Adjunct in Oriental literature for his work ‘A View on the History of Arabic Language and Literature’. Since 1835, he was Correspondent Member of the Russian Ac. of Sc. In 1836, he became Ass. Professor, and in 1837 – Full Professor at the Chair of Turkish-Tartar language. In 1845, he was elected as Dean of the First Department of the Philosophical Faculty of the Kazan’ University. Since 1846, he was Head of the Chair of Arabic and Persian languages. In 1849, he was transferred to the St. Petersburg University at the position of Full Professor. Officially he was assigned to the Chair of Persian Literature, but he also taught Arabic language, and made a serious input into Turkology. In 1855, he became the first Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Languages. In 1863, with his direct support, the Chair of the Oriental History was founded.

Compositions

On the Shaping and Successes of Oriental Literature in Europe and Its Decline in Asia // ZhMNP. 1836, part 11, p. 261. (in Rus.)
General Grammar of Turkish-Tartar Language. Kazan’, 1846. (in Rus.)
Muridism and Shamil // Russkoe slovo. 1859, No 12. (in Rus.)
Complete Concordance of Quran, or the Key to All Words and Expressions of Its Texts / Comp. in lex. order... Prof. of the St. Petersburg University Mirza А. Kasem-bek St. Petersburg, Ac. of Sc., 1859. (in Rus.)
The History of Islam: A Survey of the East in Political Aspect Before Mohammed // Russkoe slovo. 1860, No 2, 5. (in Rus.)
On the Role of Imam, His Authority and Honour // Russkoe slovo. 1860, No 3. (in Rus.)
Mohammed Amin // Russkoe slovo. 1860, No 6. (in Rus.)
Islam. Mohammed // Russkoe slovo. 1860, No 8, 10. (in Rus.)
Sheraul’-Islam, or The Laws of Moslems of the Shia’ Belief. Book II: On Heritage. St. Petersburg, 1867. (in Rus.)

Bibliography

Rsaev А. K. Mohammed Ali Mirza Kasem-bek. Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1989, pp. 113-115. (in Rus.)

About him

Krachkovsky I. Yu. Essays on the History of Russian Arabic Studies // Selected Works. Vol. 5, Moscow – Leningrad, Ac. of Sc. of the U.S.S.R., 1958. (in Rus.)
Danzig B. М. Studying Near East in Russia. Moscow, 1968, pp. 30-40. (in Rus.)
Bartold V. V. Works. Vol. IХ: Works on the History of Oriental Studies. Moscow, 1977. (in Rus.)
Rsaev А. K Mohammed Ali Mirza Kasem-bek. Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1989. (in Rus.)
The Legacy of Mirza Kasem-bek: History and Modernity. Proceedings of the International Conference (Kazan’, November 20-21, 2013). Kazan’, Foliant Publishing House, 2015. (in Rus.)

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