John I Tzimiskes (Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Τζιμισκής, romanized: Iōánnēs ho Tzimiskēs; c. 925 – 10 January 976) was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. An intuitive and successful general who married into the influential Skleros family, he strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to include Thrace and Syria by warring with the Rus' under Sviatoslav I and the Fatimids respectively.
John was born in present-day Çemişgezek in Tunceli Province. His father was a scion of the Kourkouas family, a clan of still debated Armenian origin[3] that had established itself as one of the chief families among the Anatolian military aristocracy by the early 10th century.[5][6] His mother belonging to the Phokas family of unknown ethnicity, maybe Greek-Armenian origin.[7][8] Scholars have speculated that "Tzimiskes" was derived either from the Armenian Chmushkik (Չմշկիկ), meaning "red boot", or from an Armenian word for "short stature", as explained by Leo the Deacon. A more favorable explanation is offered by the medieval Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa, who states that Tzimiskes was from the region of Khozan, from the area called Chmushkatzag.[11] Khozan was located in the region of Paghnatun, in the Byzantine province of Fourth Armenia (Sophene).[12] Either way, "Tzimiskes" was a surname used by other members of John's family, as the Armenian historian Stepanos Asoghik refers to him as the "grandson of Č‘mškik".[13]
