André Grabar

Born and educated in Kiev, Saint Petersburg and Odessa, he spent his career in Bulgaria (1919–1922), France (1922–1958) and the United States (1958–1990).

Grabar was one of the 20th-century founders of the study of the art and icons of the Eastern Roman Empire, adopting a synthetic approach embracing history, theology and interactions with the Islamic world.

Discussing the connection between the Orthodox Christian faith and conservative aesthetics of the creators of Christian icons, Grabar explained, "Their role can be compared to that of musical performers in our day, who do not feel that their importance is diminished by the fact that they limit their talent to the interpretation of other people's work, since each interpretation contains original nuances.

"[3] He left St. Petersburg in November 1917, a few days after the Bolsheviks seized power in the October Revolution, and completed his studies in Odessa in 1919.

[7] From 1937 to 1958 he became the center of a school of young art historians, as a Director of Studies in Christian Archaeology at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (1937–1946) and as a professor at the Collège de France (1946–1958).