Adolf Berzhe

Adolf Pyetrovich Berzhe (also spelled Bergé; Russian: Адо́льф Петро́вич Берже́, IPA: [ɐdəlʲf pʲɪtrəvʲɪd͡ʑ bʲɪrˈʐɛ]; 9 August [O.S. 28 July] 1828 – 12 February [O.S. 31 January] 1886) was an Imperial Russian bureaucrat and an Orientalist historian, with principal interests in the history and culture of the South Caucasus. He was also an archeographer and archaeologist, and served as the chairman of the Caucasian branch of the Archaeographic Commission from 1864 to 1886.

A Saint Petersburg native, Berzhe's father was from France and his mother was from Germany. Trained in Oriental studies at Saint Petersburg University, Berzhe's was dispatched to the chancellery of the Viceroy of the Caucasus Prince Mikhail Vorontsov in 1851. He made two scholarly trips to Persia in 1853 and 1855. From 1864 to his death Berzhe's chaired the Tiflis-based Caucasian Archaeographical Commission. He died at Tiflis in 1886, leaving behind a number of works pertaining to the history of the Caucasus and Middle East, including the monumental 11-volume collection of archival documents titled Akty, sobrannye Kavkazskoy arkheograficheskoy komissiyey (Documents collected by the Caucasian Archaeographical Commission, Tiflis, 1866–1886), the last volume of which appeared in print after Berzhe's death.