Khachatur Abovian

Chatschatur Abovyan, (Armenian Խաչատուր Աբովեան; * October 15, 1809 in Kanaker in Yerevan Khanate Yerevan, Armenia today; † on or after April 14, 1848) is the father of modern Armenian literature. Different name spellings: Khachatur Abovyan, Abovyan also.

Life

Chatschatur Abovyan was born in 1809 in the village Kanaker, now a suburb of Yerevan, the Armenian capital. He received his education in Echmiadzin (1819-1822) and at the Nersisian School in Tbilisi ( 1824-1826 ). 1828 saw the conquest of Yerevan Abovyan by Russian troops. The following year, Abovyan worked as a translator and secretary to the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin. In 1829 he took part in the first ascent of Mount Ararat by Friedrich Parrot ( 1792-1841 ) as a guide and interpreter. Friedrich Parrot was Imperial Russian State Council and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Dorpat ( now Tartu (Estonia) ). He organized for Abovyan a state scholarship to the University of Dorpat, which was then dominated by German scientists.

In the Caucasus returned, Abovyan took a job as school superintendent of the school district of Tbilisi on ( 1837-1843 ). He took this position also true in Yerevan, where he was released in March 1843 and disappeared under mysterious circumstances on April 2, 1848. There was a suspicion that had him murdered the Tsarist secret police. In his honor, the city carries Abovyan since 1963 his name. Even the most prominent street in the center of Yerevan is named after him.

Work

Chatschatur Abovyan is considered the founder of modern Armenian literature. He was the first writer who wrote on neuostarmenisch while until then literature has been written on altarmenisch who understood only the upper class formed. Abovyan wrote in 1841 the first Armenian novel ( Armenia suffering, Վէրք Հայաստանի, published posthumously in 1858 ) and the first literature specifically for children in the Armenian language. The novel is set at the time of the Russo- Persian War, 1826-1828.

Abovyan has translated works by Homer, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin and Ivan Krylov into Armenian.

Honors

The Soviet post was the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Abovyan in 1948 issuing a special stamp.