Onfim (Old Novgorodian: Онѳиме, romanized: Onfime; Russian: Онфим; also Anthemius of Novgorod) was a boy who lived in Novgorod (now 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[1] which was preserved in the clay soil of Novgorod.[2] 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”.[2]
