Karen Yuzbashyan (, ; ; January 6, 1927 – March 5, 2009) was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and specialist in medieval
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
and medieval Armenian studies. Yuzbashyan was the author of over 200 books and articles (published in Armenian, Russian, and other languages) on the political, legal, cultural aspects and relations of Byzantium and Armenia, as well as a researcher on the development of
Armenian studies
Armenian studies or Armenology (, ) is a field of humanities covering Armenian history, language and culture. The emergence of modern Armenian studies is associated with the foundation of the Catholic Mechitarist order in the early 18th century. ...
.
Biography and scholarly activity
Born in
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 ( ...
in 1927, Karen Yuzbashyan attended
Yerevan State University
Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...
from 1946 to 1948 and studied at
Leningrad State University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...
(now St Petersburg State University) from 1948 to 1951, receiving his degree in history.
[ Friends and Colleagues.]
Умер К.Н.Юзбашян
" . March 29, 2009. Accessed April 22, 2009. He worked and carried out research at the
Matenadaran
The Matenadaran (), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenian manuscripts.
It was establ ...
in
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 ...
beginning in 1955 until he transferred to the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies in 1958.
[ s.v. "Yuzbashian, Karen Nikiti," ]Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia (also rendered ''Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia''; , ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) is the first general encyclopedia in the Armenian language. It was published in 1974-1987 by the main editorial office of th ...
. vol. 8, p. 130. In 1974, he received his ''
doktor nauk
A Doctor of Sciences, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; ; ; ; is a higher doctoral degree in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and many Commonwealth of Independent States countries. One of the prerequisites of receiving a Doctor of Science ...
'' after completing his thesis on the work of the eleventh-century Armenian historian
Aristakes Lastivertsi
Aristakes Lastivertsi (; – 1080) was a medieval Armenians, Armenian historian and chronicler. The author of many works, Aristakes's most valuable contribution in the field of the historiography was his ''History About the Sufferings Occasioned ...
. Four years later, he was promoted to the head of the group for Historical and Cultural Studies at Leningrad's Department of Near Eastern Studies.
From 1981 to 1991, Yuzbashyan headed the Leningrad branch of the Palestine Society. Just prior to the Soviet Union's collapse, Yuzbashyan was elected into the
Armenian parliament
The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...
, serving a five-year term (1990–1995) there.
Yuzbashyan's works spanned the early and medieval periods of Armenian history. In 1963, he published the first critical edition of Aristakes Lastivertsi's history (in the original
classical Armenian
Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...
language); he also translated Aristakes' work into Russian in 1968.
In 1988, Yuzbashyan published a study on the
Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia
Bagratid Armenia was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I of the Bagratuni dynasty in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With each of th ...
and its relations with the Byzantine Empire.
Working at the Russian Academy of Sciences, his articles were published in many international journals. He participated in and organized numerous international congresses and conferences. He taught at St Petersburg State University and was the doctoral adviser of many students who entered the field of Byzantine Studies. His most recent work (2005) was the compilation and cataloging of
Armenian illuminated manuscripts at the university.
In addition to works on medieval Armenian history, Yuzbashyan also completed a biography of his academic mentor,
Joseph Orbeli
Joseph Orbeli (, Hovsep Abgari Orbeli; ; 20 March ( O.S. 8 March) 1887 – 2 February 1961) was a Soviet-Armenian orientalist, public figure and academician who specialized in medieval history of Transcaucasia and administered the Hermitage Museu ...
, in 1964.
A ''
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'', entitled ''Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient'' was published in his honor by Brill in 2019.
[ Bernard Outtier et al., (eds.), ''Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient: Celebrating the Memory of Karen Yuzbashian (1927–2009)''. Leiden: Brill, 2019.]
Selected works
* "L'administration byzantine en Arménie aux Xe-XIe siècles," ''
Revue des études Arméniennes
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...
'' 10 (1973-1974): 139–83.
* ''Armianskie gosudarstva epokhi Bagratidov i Vizantiia v IX–XI vv.''
he Armenian state in the Era of the Bagratids and Byzantium in the 9th-11th centuries Moscow: Nauka, 1988.
* ''Avarayri chakatamartits depi Nvarsaki paymanagire''
rom the Battle of Avarayr to the Treaty of Nvarsak Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1989.
* "L'Arménie et les Arméniens vus par Byzance," ''Byzantinische Forschungen'' 25 (1999).
*"The Armenian War of 450-451: Some Interpretations," ''Journal of Armenian Studies'' 7 (Fall-Winter 2002–2003).
Notes
Further reading
* Outtier, Bernard et al., eds., ''Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient: Celebrating the Memory of Karen Yuzbashyan (1927-2009)'' Leiden: Brill, 2019.
External links
* Friends and Colleagues.
Умер К.Н.Юзбашян"
. March 29, 2009. Accessed April 25, 2009.
Yuzbashyan's profile on the National Assembly of Armenia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuzbashyan, Karen
1927 births
2009 deaths
Writers from Tbilisi
Yerevan State University alumni
Members of the National Assembly (Armenia)
Ethnic Armenian historians
Soviet historians
Georgian people of Armenian descent
Armenian Byzantinists
20th-century Armenian historians