Anna Karenina vocabulary

a French expert of Semitic languages and civilizations (philology), philosopher, biblical scholar and critic, historian of religion, and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential and pioneering historical works on the origins of early Christianity, and his political theories, especially concerning nationalism and national identity. Renan is credited as being among the first scholars to advance the Khazar theory, which held that Ashkenazi Jews were descendants of the Khazars, Turkic peoples who had adopted Jewish religion and migrated to Western Europe following the collapse of their khanate.