Orbeli Leon (Levon) and Joseph

 Orbeli Leon (Levon) and Joseph (1882-1958 • 1887-1961), Leon (Levon) and Joseph were brothers born to Abgar Orbeli, jurist of Armenian origin. As of 1889 onwards, A. Orbeli lived in Tbilisi, at 56 Bebutov Street, (present-day Lado Asatiani Str.). (Levon’s and Joseph’s mother was Varvara Argutinskaya–Dolgorukova, descendant of an old family of Armenian noblemen, who resided in Tbilisi. Levon’s and Joseph’s one uncle - Amazpas was a wellknown dentist of those times and the other one - Davit had served as a physician at St. Michael’s hospital for over 30 years.

Leon (Levon): Physiologist, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1935), Academy of Sciences of Armenia (1943) and Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR (1944). He was one of the founders of evolutionary physiology. After their wedding, Levon’s parents left Tbilisi and moved to Nakhichevan because Abgar Orbeli was appointed to the post of the judge in that town. Levon was born in the village of Darachichag, near Nakhichevan. In 1883 Levon’s father was transferred to Kutaisi; in 1889, he was reassigned to Tbilisi. Levon Orbeli spent 16 years in Georgia. From 1889, he studied at the Tbilisi male classical school №3. In 1904 he graduated from the Petersburg Military-Medical Academy. L. Orbeli had the rank of the Colonel General. He was the employee and disciple of I. Pavlov. He filled the position of the Director of the Institute of Physiology, named after I. Pavlov, which was affiliated with the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1936–50) and held the office of the Director of the Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Pathology of Higher Nervous Activity, named after I. Pavlov, affiliated with the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR (1939-1950). In 1942–46, L. Orbeli was the Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1956 he founded and headed the Institute of Evolutionary Physiology, named after I. Sechenov, affiliated with the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
L. Orbeli was the laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1941); he also owned the USSR State Prize named after I. Pavlov (1937). At the same time, he was the Honorary Member of various foreign Academies of Sciences and Scientific Organizations.
Levon Orbeli died in Leningrad.

Joseph: Orientalist and an outstanding public figure. He was the Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1935), the Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia and its first President (1943 – 47), the Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences of Iran and a Professor of the Tehran University. Born in Kutaisi he spent his child- hood and youth in Kutaisi and Tbilisi. In 1904, he graduated from the Tbilisi male classical school №3 and in the same year, he entered the Historical-Philological Faculty of the Petersburg University, majoring in Classical Philology. At the same time, he finished the complete program of the courses of Oriental languages (Georgian, Armenian, Iranian languages). His tutors were N. Mari, V. Bertold, I. Javakhishvili, N. Adonts and others. During his student years, great erudition and good scholarly tion allowed him to cooperate with the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia, where his 3 articles were published: Armenian Art (1911), Georgian Art (1913) and Islamic Art (1916). J. Orbeli was interested in Rustvelology; he viewed Sh. Rustaveli’s poem The Man In Panther’s Skin, as a creation, closely linked with the cultural history of Oriental and Cauasian peoples. From 1920 onwards, he served at the State Hermitage, where he founded a Department of Oriental Studies. In 1934 – 51 he was the Director of the Hermitage. In 1955 – 60 J. Orbeli filled the position of the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Leningrad University; in 1956 – 61, he was the Director of the Leningrad Institute of Oriental Studies, affiliated to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He was elected an Honorary Member of the London Archeological Society.

Joseph Orbeli died in Leningrad. He was buried at the Bogoslovsky cemetery.