Aram Khachaturi Safrastyan (; 14 July 1888 – 12 July 1966) was an Armenian orientalist and

Turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative c ...

. He was a fellow of the Institute of History and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the

Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates activ ...

Biography

Aram Safrastyan was born in 1888 in the Aygestan neighborhood of

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to the family of a teacher. He studied at the Secondary Central School of Aygestan, after which he worked as a teacher at the Haynkuyser School of Van, and then at schools in Aghtamar Monastery, Bayazet and

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. It is the administrative seat of Şebinkarahisar District.

. In 1911 he left for

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and was admitted to the Faculty of Humanities of the Higher Pedagogical Institute, which soon merged with the faculty of the same name of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

. In 1915, after graduating from university with honors, Safrastyan went to work as a teacher at the Galatasaray College in the Pera district of Constantinople, where he taught from 1915 to 1917. Safrastyan joined the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...

in his youth and was the head of the ARF party organization in Constantinople at one point after World War I. In September 1919, Safrastyan and his family were forced to flee to Armenia. He was elected to the parliament of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...

as a representative from Western Armenia. Safrastyan moved to

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(Tbilisi) in 1920. In the 1920s, Safrastyan contributed to the creation of the Latin-based

Azerbaijani alphabet The Azerbaijani alphabet (, , ) has three versions which includes the Arabic script, Arabic, Latin script, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets. Azerbaijani language#North Azerbaijani, North Azerbaijani, the official language of Azerbaijan, Republic ...

created to replace the Arabic script theretofore used. He also contributed to the Azerbaijani-language newspapers ''Yeni Yol'' and ''Dan Yıldız'' published in Tbilisi. In 1926, Safrastyan participated in the All-Union Turkological Congress convened in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

as a deputy of from the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. Safrastyan was arrested during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

and imprisoned from 1937 to 1939. He was later exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and remained there from 1949 to 1955. After returning from exile, he moved to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, capital of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

. He died there in 1966. Safrastyan's grandson Ruben is also a noted Armenian Turkologist.

Sources

* 1966 deaths 1888 births People from Van, Turkey Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Turkologists {{Armenia-historian-stub