Alexandre Bennigsen
Encyclopedia
Alexandre Bennigsen (20 March 1913, St Petersburg - 3 June 1988) was a scholar of Islam
in the Soviet Union
.
Bennigsen was born in St Petersburg in 1913. After the Bolshevik Revolution
, his family left Russia for Estonia
in 1919 and settled in Paris
in 1924, where he studied at the Ecole des Langues Orientales
.
He taught at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes (en Sciences Sociales) and became the chair of history of non-Arab Islam. Bennigsen also taught at various American universities, including the University of Chicago
and the University of Wisconsin–Madison
.
Bennigsen believed that the Muslims of the Soviet Union effectively resisted Sovietization, maintaining a distinctive identity within the Union. He also attributed a political role to Islam, arguing that even though most Soviet Muslims probably knew little of actual Islamic religious practice they retained a strong cultural knowledge . The latter view was current among social scientists, who believed that Soviet social engineering had largely eradicated any sense of being Muslim amongst the historically Islamic people of the Russian empire. Bennigsen proved prescient when the Soviet Union began to crumble, and especially in its aftermath. His belief that Soviet Muslims had retained their Islamic identity, though not a solid knowledge of Islamic practice, despite having been cut off from the larger Islamic world since the 1920s proved correct. Today Islam is a potent political force throughout the former Soviet republics but also, especially, in Russia itself.
Bennigsen, who died in 1988, is generally considered the "father" of a school of students of nationality issues in the former Soviet Union and in the states formed in its aftermath. These included, prominently, S. Enders Wimbush and Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay, with whom Bennigsen wrote many books and articles, and Paul A. Goble, the founder and editor of Window on Eurasia.
Marie Broxup, his daughter, is a well-known scholar on Central Asia.
Muslims of the Soviet Empire. A Guide, London & Bloomington, Ind., 1986, (coedited with S. Enders Wimbush).
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Bennigsen was born in St Petersburg in 1913. After the Bolshevik Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, his family left Russia for Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
in 1919 and settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1924, where he studied at the Ecole des Langues Orientales
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...
.
He taught at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes (en Sciences Sociales) and became the chair of history of non-Arab Islam. Bennigsen also taught at various American universities, including the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
.
Bennigsen believed that the Muslims of the Soviet Union effectively resisted Sovietization, maintaining a distinctive identity within the Union. He also attributed a political role to Islam, arguing that even though most Soviet Muslims probably knew little of actual Islamic religious practice they retained a strong cultural knowledge . The latter view was current among social scientists, who believed that Soviet social engineering had largely eradicated any sense of being Muslim amongst the historically Islamic people of the Russian empire. Bennigsen proved prescient when the Soviet Union began to crumble, and especially in its aftermath. His belief that Soviet Muslims had retained their Islamic identity, though not a solid knowledge of Islamic practice, despite having been cut off from the larger Islamic world since the 1920s proved correct. Today Islam is a potent political force throughout the former Soviet republics but also, especially, in Russia itself.
Bennigsen, who died in 1988, is generally considered the "father" of a school of students of nationality issues in the former Soviet Union and in the states formed in its aftermath. These included, prominently, S. Enders Wimbush and Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay, with whom Bennigsen wrote many books and articles, and Paul A. Goble, the founder and editor of Window on Eurasia.
Marie Broxup, his daughter, is a well-known scholar on Central Asia.
Works
- The Evolution of the Muslim Nationalities in the USSR and their Linguistic Problems, London, 1961.
- Islam in the Soviet Union, London, New York, 1967.
- Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union: a revolutionary strategy for the colonial world, Chicago, 1970, (coauthored with S. Enders Wimbush).
- Mystics and Commissars, Sufism in the Soviet Union, London & Berkeley, 1985 (coauthored with S. Enders Wimbush)
Muslims of the Soviet Empire. A Guide, London & Bloomington, Ind., 1986, (coedited with S. Enders Wimbush).
- The Islamic Threat to the Soviet State, London, 1983. (With Marie Broxup).