Chronicles of Rus’
Poetics and textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle, the Kyiv Chronicle and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle, in comparison with Byzantine, Armenian and Georgian historiography.
Ukrainian writer and researcher · Paris
Nazarii Nazarov
Philologist, writer, translator
I study the history of languages and how texts travel across periods and cultures. I teach historical and modern languages, write fiction and poetry, and translate into Ukrainian.
01 / Research
Languages, texts, manuscripts
From lexicography and poetics to manuscript transmission and oral tradition.
Eastern Christianity
Old Georgian hagiography, apocrypha and manuscripts. The use of hagiographical texts in the various languages of Eastern Christianity.
Indo-European poetics
Poetic formulas, rhythm and the links between oral epic, ritual and archaeology. A separate line of work uses graph theory to model folk narratives.
Greeks of the Azov region
The dialects, song heritage and ethnomusicology of the Mariupol Greeks. I work on an edition and translation of archival songs and a digital dialect corpus.
History of linguistics
Historical and comparative linguistics, etymological lexicography, and early modern dictionaries and grammars.
Selected publications
Academic profiles
02 / Books
Fiction, poetry and essays
Books I have written, edited or translated.
A novel-archive in Ukrainian · Bohdan · 2026
Seven Days of Eden
Aglaya Androidi brings mysterious manuscripts to Kyiv. They reveal a literature written in silent languages and bring together stories from different eras.
Nazarii Nazarov · Paperback
There on the Mountain
An Anthology of Ukrainian Folk Poetry: Ballads, Ritual Songs, and Charms
Torchbearer
Escape from Babylon
Silent Languages
Browse books and excerpts
03 / Translations
Literature in translation
I translate poetry, fiction and historical texts. I also work to bring Ukrainian oral traditions to readers in other languages.
The Drop that Makes the Tree of Life Green
Buy from the publisherKostis Chatzopoulos. Autumn
Constantine Cavafy. Poems
Read onlineThe Gardens of Adonis
Read onlinePico della Mirandola. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Read onlineMartyrdom of Saint Eustathius of Mtskheta
Read online04 / Teaching
Language courses and seminars
From grammar to reading primary sources. My courses cover historical languages, manuscripts and literature. I also teach Ukrainian through songs and guided reading.
Middle Ukrainian (Ruthenian)
20 hours. Grammar and reading texts from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Old Georgian
An introduction to grammar and reading. 24 hours at Eichstätt and 39 at Louvain-la-Neuve.
Literature of Ukraine-Rus’
A monthly seminar on literature from the 11th to the 18th century.
Ukrainian through songs and literature
Level 1 explores popular songs through vocabulary and grammar. Level 2 offers guided reading, beginning with Lesia Ukrainka’s Cassandra.
Teaching materials and new projects
Old Georgian Grammar in 30 Lessons and a Middle Ukrainian reader with a glossary. Projects include a Georgian textual criticism and palaeography seminar with Agnès Ouzounian and a course in Old Church Slavonic.
Monthly · online
Lectures by donation
A monthly online session on languages, literature and the history of texts. You choose how much to contribute.
Monthly contribution
Choose your amount and authorise monthly billing on the payment page.
Set up a monthly contributionSacred languages of the world’s religions
I will discuss ancient languages used to record foundational religious texts, from Hebrew to Pali, and from Old Georgian to Classical Tibetan.
Online · lecture in English and discussion
An audio recording of the talk in English, excluding the discussion, will be available afterwards. The recording will be accompanied by a slide presentation and a transcript translated into Ukrainian and French, according to your needs.
After arranging your contribution, leave your email address in the form to receive the meeting invitation.
Register for the lecture06 / About
Biography
I was born in Stepove, in Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region. I studied literature at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and defended my PhD on Ukrainian etymological lexicography at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 2016. I worked at Kyiv University, held visiting appointments at the ENS and FMSH, and researched Indo-European poetics at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris.
Education and experience
- 2023–2026Historical language studies at ILARA / EPHE and ELASU (Sorbonne)
- 2024Research at the Musée de l’Homme / CNRS, Paris
- 2022–2023PAUSE / Institut Jean Nicod, ENS and FMSH, Paris
- 2018–2022Research and postdoctoral work at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
- 2016PhD in Ukrainian etymological lexicography
- 2011–2013Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Jason programme at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 2011.
Awards
- 2024Fourth place in fiction, Smoloskyp Literary Award
- 2021City of Poetry Award for poems in English
- 2011First place in the French translation competition organised by the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine
- 2009First place in a Modern Greek translation competition and a special jury prize at Metaphora
- 2006–2007Presidential grant of Ukraine. First place in the Pryvitannia zhyttia competition (2007).
Interviews and profiles
07 / Contact
Contact
For courses, lectures, translations, publications and research collaborations.
nazariinazarov@gmail.com