Onfim

Anthemius
Онѳиме
One of Onfim's schoolwork doodles (no. 200), depicting himself as a horseman slaying a person, presumably his teacher.[a][1]
Bornc. 1210-1250
Known forHis schoolwork, written in preserved birch bark, and the notes and doodles therein

Anthemius (Novgorodian: Онѳимє, romanized: Onθime),[b] better known by the modern Russian spelling of his name, Onfim (Russian: Онфим), was a boy who lived in Novgorod (now named Veliky Novgorod, Russia) in the 13th century, some time around 1220 or 1260. He left his notes and homework exercises scratched in soft birch bark[2] which was preserved in the clay soil of Novgorod.[3]

Onfim, who was most likely six or seven at the time, wrote in the East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect. Besides letters and syllables, he drew "battle scenes and drawings of himself and his teacher".[3]


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  1. ^ Schaeken 2012, p. 101.
  2. ^ Freeze 2002, p. 38.
  3. ^ a b Chambers 2008, p. 184.