Manuk Abeghian ( hy, Մանուկ Աբեղյան, , alternatively Manouk Abeghian, or Manuk Abeghyan, March 15, 1865 – September 26, 1944) was a scholar of

Armenian literature Armenian literature begins around AD 400 with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots. History Early literature Only a handful of fragments have survived from the most ancient Armenian literary tradition preceding the Christia ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. He is best remembered as the main designer of the

reformed Armenian orthography The Armenian orthography reform occurred between 1922 and 1924 in Soviet Armenia and was partially reviewed in 1940. Its main features were neutralization of classical etymological writing and the adjustment of phonetic realization and writing. Th ...

used in Armenia to this day. Abeghian was born in 1865 in the village of Tazakand (modern-day Babek,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

; historically known by its inhabitants as Astapat or Astabad, after the nearby ruined medieval village) in the Nakhichevansky Uyezd of the

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central A ...

of the Russian Empire․ He began teaching at

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

in 1923, in the first years after the university was founded. He was a member of the

Armenian National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա, ՀՀ ԳԱԱ, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri az ...

. He is the author of a comprehensive history of Armenian literature, the Russian translation of which is titled ''Istoriya drevnearmyanskoi literatury'', and of a volume on Armenian folklore, the German translation of which is entitled, ''Der Armenische Volksglaube''. The Literature Institute of Armenia is named in honor of Abeghian. He is also pictured on an Armenian postage stamp in the "Contribution of Armenians to 20th Century Culture" series. Abeghyan had two sons: Mher Abeghian, who was a painter, and Suren Abeghian, who was an actor and playwright. Abeghyan's nephew, Artashes Abeghian, was also a philologist. Manuk Abeghian is buried at Tokhmakh cemetery in Yerevan, Armenia.

References

* The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979).

External links

Khoren Sargsian Khoren Sargsian ( hy, Խորեն Սարգսյան; 1891–1970) was an Armenian writer, critic, doctor of philology, and professor. He graduated from Saint Petersburg University and later went on to become the director of the Literature Institute ...

Մանուկ_Աբեղյանը_և_հայ_հին_գրականությունը_''[Manuk_Abeghian_and_old_Armenian_literature
/nowiki>''.html" ;"title="anuk Abeghian and old Armenian literature">Մանուկ Աբեղյանը և հայ հին գրականությունը ''[Manuk Abeghian and old Armenian literature
/nowiki>''">anuk Abeghian and old Armenian literature">Մանուկ Աբեղյանը և հայ հին գրականությունը ''[Manuk Abeghian and old Armenian literature
/nowiki>'' Yerevan, 1946
Manuk Abeghian's picture on the Yerevan State University website
1865 births 1944 deaths Soviet Armenians Armenian folklorists Armenian literary critics People from Nakhchivan 19th-century Armenian historians 20th-century Armenian historians Armenian people from the Russian Empire {{Armenia-academic-bio-stub