Gerasim Lebedev
Encyclopedia
Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev, also spelled Herasim Steppanovich Lebedeff , was a Russian
adventurer, linguist, pioneer of Bengali theatre
(founded Hindu Theatre
in 1795), translator, musician and writer. He was a pioneer of Indology
.
, Russia
, to a family of a church choirmaster. Gerasim was the oldest son in the family. He had two brothers: Afanasy and Trefil and sister Antonida. The family later moved to Saint Petersburg
where Lebedev's father worked in a church. Lebedev learned English
, French
and German
by his own effort. In Saint Petersburg Lebedev became acquainted with Fyodor Volkov
, the founder of the first permanent Russian theater. Lebedev was a singer in the court choir and participated in the performances of Volkov's theater as well.
He was a self-taught violinist and accompanied Andreas Razumovsky
, the ambassador designate from Russia to Vienna
, as a member of a musical group. He fled the entourage and travelled across Europe, earning his livelihood as a violinist. He soon joined an English
military band that was being sent to India
. Lebedev arrived at Madras (now Chennai
), a port in southern India
in August 1785. He was felicitated by the mayor of Madras and earned some money from musical programmes. However, the conservative society stifled him and so after living in Madras for a couple of years he left for Bengal
.
), then the capital of British India, for about ten years. During his stay, he started to learn Hindi
, Sanskrit
and Bengali
from a local schoolteacher named Golokhnath Das. In exchange, Lebedev had to teach Das violin and European music. With the support of a Russian doctor, then practicing in Calcutta, he was soon established as a musician. Tickets for his musical programmes were priced at Rs.
12. Lebedev was the first person to use Indian tunes on Western musical instruments.
With assistance from local intellectuals, Lebedev founded the first European-style proscenium
drama theatre in India. This theatre opened in Calcutta in 1795. Lebedev translated two plays, The Disguise and Love is the Best Doctor, into Bengali. These two were the first performances in the theatre, with music composed by Lebedev himself and lyrics borrowed from the Bengali poet Bharatchandra Ray
.
The theatre Lebedev established at Domtala (Ezra Street) used for the first time Bengali actors and actresses. The show held on 27 November 1795 is considered the first performance of the modern Indian theatre. At that time there were two theatre halls for the English in Calcutta. Lebedev was so successful that it aroused envy in Englishmen and two of them burnt down his theatre. Lebedev’s attempt was somewhat premature, but it proved that a nucleus of clients ready to pay for public performances had already been formed in the city.
Apart from his work in the theatre, Lebedev established a press, financed by the Czar, for printing Bengali books. He also compiled a short Bangla dictionary, wrote a book in Bengali on arithmetic and translated a portion of Bharatchandra's Annadamangal into Russian
. His dictionary was published in 1801. He wrote to the Russian ambassador in London about publishing Bharatchandra Ray’s works in Russia.
However, the British administration was not supportive of Lebedev‘s activities and was annoyed by his sympathetic stance towards the Indians. He also lost a court case against an employee, theatre decorator Joseph Batsh and was broken financially. Finally, the British authorities expelled him from India in 1797. He was virtually bankrupt, possessing only a small bag of belongings valued at Rs. 295. He was forced to stay a few months in Cape Town
to earn money for the ticket to Europe.
Lebedev stopped in London
on his way back to Russia. In London he published Grammar of the Pure and Mixed East Indian Languages which was based on his studies of the character of some of the Indian languages, their sources of origin and affinity with Asian and European languages.
On his return to Russia, he was employed by the Foreign Ministry. He established in St. Petersburg a printing house equipped with Devanāgarī
and Bengali script
s, the first of its kind in Europe. He published his second book Unbiased observations on Brahmin
customs (“Беспристрастное созерцание брагменских обычаев...”), and prepared two other books but could not finish those due to illness. Lebedev died in his printing house on 15 July 1817 and was interred in the Gergiev Cemetery of Bolshaya Okhta in Saint Petersburg.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
adventurer, linguist, pioneer of Bengali theatre
Bengali theatre
Bengali theatre primarily refers to theatre performed in the Bengali language. Bengali theatre is produced mainly in West Bengal, and in Bangladesh. The term may also refer to some Hindi theatres which are accepted by the Bengali people....
(founded Hindu Theatre
Hindu Theatre
The first Bengali theatre was established as early as 1795. Russian Indologist Gerasim Lebedev is credited to have founded it. Prasanna Coomar Tagore established the first Indian owned Bengali theatre in 1831, named the Hindu Theatre....
in 1795), translator, musician and writer. He was a pioneer of Indology
Indology
Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent , and as such is a subset of Asian studies....
.
Early life
Lebedev was born in YaroslavlYaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, to a family of a church choirmaster. Gerasim was the oldest son in the family. He had two brothers: Afanasy and Trefil and sister Antonida. The family later moved to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
where Lebedev's father worked in a church. Lebedev learned English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by his own effort. In Saint Petersburg Lebedev became acquainted with Fyodor Volkov
Fyodor Volkov
Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov was a Russian actor and founder of the first permanent Russian theater.The stepson of merchant Polushkin from Kostroma, Fyodor Volkov received a versatile education. He established the very first public theater in Yaroslavl in 1750, which would later bring fame to the...
, the founder of the first permanent Russian theater. Lebedev was a singer in the court choir and participated in the performances of Volkov's theater as well.
He was a self-taught violinist and accompanied Andreas Razumovsky
Andreas Razumovsky
Count Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was a Russian diplomat who spent many years of his life in Vienna.-Life :Razumovsky was the son of Cyril Razumovsky, the last hetman of Ukraine, and nephew of Aleksey Grigorievich Razumovsky, called the Night Emperor. The elder Rasumovsky's late Baroque palace...
, the ambassador designate from Russia to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, as a member of a musical group. He fled the entourage and travelled across Europe, earning his livelihood as a violinist. He soon joined an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
military band that was being sent to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Lebedev arrived at Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
), a port in southern India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
in August 1785. He was felicitated by the mayor of Madras and earned some money from musical programmes. However, the conservative society stifled him and so after living in Madras for a couple of years he left for Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
.
In Calcutta
Lebedev lived in Calcutta (now KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
), then the capital of British India, for about ten years. During his stay, he started to learn Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
from a local schoolteacher named Golokhnath Das. In exchange, Lebedev had to teach Das violin and European music. With the support of a Russian doctor, then practicing in Calcutta, he was soon established as a musician. Tickets for his musical programmes were priced at Rs.
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
12. Lebedev was the first person to use Indian tunes on Western musical instruments.
With assistance from local intellectuals, Lebedev founded the first European-style proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
drama theatre in India. This theatre opened in Calcutta in 1795. Lebedev translated two plays, The Disguise and Love is the Best Doctor, into Bengali. These two were the first performances in the theatre, with music composed by Lebedev himself and lyrics borrowed from the Bengali poet Bharatchandra Ray
Bharatchandra Ray
Bharatchandra Ray was an 18th century Bengali and Sanskrit poet and song composer. He is mostly known for his poetic work, Annadamangal or Annapurnamangal. He is often referred to simply as Bharatchandra.-Early years:...
.
The theatre Lebedev established at Domtala (Ezra Street) used for the first time Bengali actors and actresses. The show held on 27 November 1795 is considered the first performance of the modern Indian theatre. At that time there were two theatre halls for the English in Calcutta. Lebedev was so successful that it aroused envy in Englishmen and two of them burnt down his theatre. Lebedev’s attempt was somewhat premature, but it proved that a nucleus of clients ready to pay for public performances had already been formed in the city.
Apart from his work in the theatre, Lebedev established a press, financed by the Czar, for printing Bengali books. He also compiled a short Bangla dictionary, wrote a book in Bengali on arithmetic and translated a portion of Bharatchandra's Annadamangal into Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. His dictionary was published in 1801. He wrote to the Russian ambassador in London about publishing Bharatchandra Ray’s works in Russia.
However, the British administration was not supportive of Lebedev‘s activities and was annoyed by his sympathetic stance towards the Indians. He also lost a court case against an employee, theatre decorator Joseph Batsh and was broken financially. Finally, the British authorities expelled him from India in 1797. He was virtually bankrupt, possessing only a small bag of belongings valued at Rs. 295. He was forced to stay a few months in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to earn money for the ticket to Europe.
Return to Russia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on his way back to Russia. In London he published Grammar of the Pure and Mixed East Indian Languages which was based on his studies of the character of some of the Indian languages, their sources of origin and affinity with Asian and European languages.
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
and Bengali script
Bengali script
The Bengali alphabet is the writing system for the Bengali language. The script with variations is used for Assamese and is basis for Meitei, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Kokborok, Garo and Mundari alphabets. All these languages are spoken in the eastern region of South Asia. Historically, the script has...
s, the first of its kind in Europe. He published his second book Unbiased observations on Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
customs (“Беспристрастное созерцание брагменских обычаев...”), and prepared two other books but could not finish those due to illness. Lebedev died in his printing house on 15 July 1817 and was interred in the Gergiev Cemetery of Bolshaya Okhta in Saint Petersburg.
Works
- A Grammar of the Pure and Mixed East Indian Dialects (London, 1801), or, A grammar of the pure and mixed East Indian dialects,: With dialogues affixed ... arranged ... according to the Brahmenian system, of the Shamscrit language ... Jones, respecting the Shamscrit alphabet
- An Impartial Contemplation of the East Indian Systems of Brahmins (St Petersburg, 1805) or An Impartial Review of the East Indian Brahminical System of Sacred Rites and Customs
- A Collection of Hindustani and Bengali Arias
Further reading
- "Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev", by Hayat Mamud. Bangla Academy (1985) Biography on the website of the Yaroslavl Volkov Theatre
- Exhibition to commemorate Russia's first Indologist «Malaysia Sun», Saturday 19 January, 2008 (IANS). Celebrating Lebedev's jubilee in Yaroslavl