Clement Sibilian (Կղեմէս Սիպիլեան)
Date & Place of Birth
17-Feb-1824 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Date & Place of Death
23-May-1878 Tigranocerta
Biography
Born in Constantinople (Istanbul), he entered the Mekhitarist Monastery in Vienna in 1838, becoming a member of the congregation four years later.
In 1845, he was ordained a celibate priest and took the name Clement. His interest in numismatics began under the guidance of Abbot Aristakes Azarian, who had established a coin collection for the congregation in 1825.
Sibilian began writing his main work, "Classification of Rubenian Coins," in 1846, but realizing the need for extensive research, he postponed the work.
After traveling in Lesser Armenia from 1847 to 1849, he published two books in Vienna in 1851, dedicated to the assassination of Mexican conquerors and the last days and death of King Tigranes.
Living in Izmir from 1853 to 1855, he attempted to travel to Cilicia but this plan failed when his superiors recalled him to Constantinople and then, in October 1856, to Persia, where he served as the community leader of the Armenian Catholics in Isfahan for a decade. During this time, he published articles on numismatics and archaeology in Armenian and European periodicals.
While in Persia, Sibilian visited Tehran (1857), Van (1861), Tiflis, and Etchmiadzin (1864), thus becoming familiar with Armenia's past and present.
Returning to Constantinople in 1868, he traveled in Lesser Asia until 1870, collecting coins and other antiquities, which he donated to the congregation's museum and other institutions. After a brief return to Vienna, he went back to Constantinople, where he collaborated with all the Armenian cultural institutions in the city. He taught in schools and published a geography textbook in 1877.
In 1875, Sibilian was appointed a correspondent member of the Vienna Numismatic Society for his contributions to Greek and Armenian numismatics.
He organized the ancient section of the Osmanian Museum in Constantinople, and in 1876, Sultan Abdul-Aziz appointed him the museum's second director, appreciating his qualifications.
In the late 1876, he visited Cilicia, and in April 1877, he was sent to the Middle East by the museum to collect artifacts. This expedition was fateful. Clement Sibilian, physically weakened by his travels and severely ill with dysentery, reached Tigranocerta and died eight days later, on May 23, 1878. He was buried there.
Shortly before his death, Sibilian completed "Classification of Rubenian Coins," where he first processed, classified, and chronologically examined more than 2,000 coins of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
The manuscript remained with his family until the Mekhitarist Congregation purchased and published it in 1892 in Vienna, edited and supplemented by Fr. Grigor Gallemkerean. The publisher noted in the preface that the congregation already had a collection of 15,000 coins, including 220 from the Arsacid dynasty and 2,232 from the Cilician period, thanks to Sibilian's efforts.
In 1845, he was ordained a celibate priest and took the name Clement. His interest in numismatics began under the guidance of Abbot Aristakes Azarian, who had established a coin collection for the congregation in 1825.
Sibilian began writing his main work, "Classification of Rubenian Coins," in 1846, but realizing the need for extensive research, he postponed the work.
After traveling in Lesser Armenia from 1847 to 1849, he published two books in Vienna in 1851, dedicated to the assassination of Mexican conquerors and the last days and death of King Tigranes.
Living in Izmir from 1853 to 1855, he attempted to travel to Cilicia but this plan failed when his superiors recalled him to Constantinople and then, in October 1856, to Persia, where he served as the community leader of the Armenian Catholics in Isfahan for a decade. During this time, he published articles on numismatics and archaeology in Armenian and European periodicals.
While in Persia, Sibilian visited Tehran (1857), Van (1861), Tiflis, and Etchmiadzin (1864), thus becoming familiar with Armenia's past and present.
Returning to Constantinople in 1868, he traveled in Lesser Asia until 1870, collecting coins and other antiquities, which he donated to the congregation's museum and other institutions. After a brief return to Vienna, he went back to Constantinople, where he collaborated with all the Armenian cultural institutions in the city. He taught in schools and published a geography textbook in 1877.
In 1875, Sibilian was appointed a correspondent member of the Vienna Numismatic Society for his contributions to Greek and Armenian numismatics.
He organized the ancient section of the Osmanian Museum in Constantinople, and in 1876, Sultan Abdul-Aziz appointed him the museum's second director, appreciating his qualifications.
In the late 1876, he visited Cilicia, and in April 1877, he was sent to the Middle East by the museum to collect artifacts. This expedition was fateful. Clement Sibilian, physically weakened by his travels and severely ill with dysentery, reached Tigranocerta and died eight days later, on May 23, 1878. He was buried there.
Shortly before his death, Sibilian completed "Classification of Rubenian Coins," where he first processed, classified, and chronologically examined more than 2,000 coins of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
The manuscript remained with his family until the Mekhitarist Congregation purchased and published it in 1892 in Vienna, edited and supplemented by Fr. Grigor Gallemkerean. The publisher noted in the preface that the congregation already had a collection of 15,000 coins, including 220 from the Arsacid dynasty and 2,232 from the Cilician period, thanks to Sibilian's efforts.
Files
Collection
Citation
“Clement Sibilian (Կղեմէս Սիպիլեան),” Armenian Numismatic Research Organization, accessed April 29, 2024, http://armnumres.org/items/show/1595.