Anthimus of Iberia
Anthimus of Iberia (Antim Ivireanul), secular name Andria (approx. 1650–1716), was ecclesiastic and political figure of Romania, scholar, typographer, writer, artist, metropolitan of Wallachia (1708). He was from Georgian.
Anthimus of Iberia was kidnapped by the Ottomans from Georgia. He was released from captivity in Istanbul with the help of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and afterwards he remained in the patriarch’s service to advance his education. He knew several European and Oriental languages. At the end of the 1680s, he was invited by the Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu of Wallachia. Anthimus of Iberia devoted his entire career to the revival of national culture of Romania, made a great contribution to the development of the Romanian literary language and book printing. Books in Romanian, Greek, Old Slavonic and Arabic languages were printed under the leadership of Anthimus of Iberia in the printing houses (in Bucharest, Snagov Monastery, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Targovishte) founded by him. His name is associated with the establishment of the Romanian language in the Romanian liturgy, which was of great importance for the development of Romanian religious and secular literature. Anthimus of Iberia is the author of several original works and Didahii (Sermons) is the most notable among them. He adorned the books he published with illustrations and miniatures (for example, Gospels, published in 1693). Anthimus of Iberia carved the main door and windows of the monastery he built in Bucharest (Antim Monastery) with traditional Georgian motifs combined with Romanian ones and it remains the best example of wood carving art to this day. As a result of all the work done by Anthimus of Iberia, Romania turned into a significant cultural center in the 17th–18th centuries and supplied other countries with books published in Greek, Old Slavonic and Arabic languages.
Anthimus of Iberia printed 64 books in four printing houses established in various places in Wallachia in the span of 25 years. The disciplines of Anthimus of Iberia founded a printing house in Aleppo (Syria). The establishment of the first printing house of Tbilisi in 1709 and the printing of the Georgian translation of Gospels the same year is connected to him. The printing house in Tbilisi was founded by Mihai Iștvanovici, the disciple of Anthimus of Iberia. Anthimus of Iberia and his disciples laid the foundation of the friendship and cultural relations between the Romanian and Georgian peoples.
Anthimus of Iberia fought for the independence of the Romanian church and state, he was at the head of the anti-Ottoman patriotic-liberation movement. In his sermons, he urged people to resist the Ottoman Empire. Anthimus of Iberia had a disagreement with the prince of Romania due to his anti-Ottoman orientation. He was captured, condemned to excommunication (he was given back his secular name — Andria) and exiled to the Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai. It is assumed that the accompanying janissaries killed Anthimus of Iberia on the way and threw his body into the river at the instigation of the prince.
On June 21, 1992, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized Anthimus of Iberia.
September 14 (27) was proclaimed as his commemoration day.
Literary work: Predici, ed. de G. Strempel, Buc., 1962.
Literature: გვინჩიძე ო., ანთიმ ივერიელი, თბ., 1973; კურდღელაშვილი შ., ქართული სტამბის ისტორიიდან, თბ., 1959; შანიძე ა., ქართული სტამბის ისტორიისათვის, კრ.: ლიტერატურული მემკვიდრეობა, წგ. 1, თბ., 1935; შარაშიძე ქ., პირველი სტამბა საქართველოში (1709 – 1722), თბ., 1955; Джинджихашвили Ф., Антимоз Ивериели, Тб., 1967.
V. Macharadze
F. Jinjikhashvili
