Johannes Lepsius: Writings on the Armenian Question

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hacik Rafi Gazer
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 504901293

The Protestant theologian Johannes Lepsius (1858-1926) is one of the prominent German figures of humanitarianism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His writings on the Armenian Christian minority in the Ottoman Empire impressively document his engagement with moral-political issues and contemporary ecclesiastical developments in the context of movements toward the homogenization of population groups in multi-ethnic states. The aim of this project is to edit and complete the most important texts on the "Armenian Question." For this purpose, the format of a study edition with a detailed apparatus will be chosen, including a source and text commentary, a history of the texts' origins and impact, a bibliography, and an index of persons and places. Thus, the corpus of writings of a key Protestant figure will be made accessible for further research in contemporary church history and humanitarianism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants