Rafik Badalyan (; born October 24, 1943, 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 ...

) is an Armenian sculptor, painter, and physico-mathematician.

Biography

Badalyan was born on October 24, 1943, in

in a military family. He studied at secondary school after Stalin (nowadays-after Vahan Teryan). Rafik entered

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 ...

in 1962. He studied in physico-mathematical department. During studies he went to serve in

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. Finishing his service Rafik Badalyan continued his education and graduated from university in 1968. He worked in Polymer Research Institute during

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1970, he was recalled to serve in the army but this time as an officer. He was trained as an officer in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

and

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

. In 1973, he was demobilized and returned to his previous job. In 1976 he worked in the lab of integral and hybrid microcircuits and sensors in

Abovyan Abovyan or Abovian ( ) is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia within the Kotayk Province. It is located northeast of Yerevan and southeast of the province centre Hrazdan. As of the 2022 census, the population of the town was 46,434 ...

. In 1978, he studied in Institute of Electronic Technology in Moscow where received his PhD in Physics. Ha wrote about 50 research papers,

monographs A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

and fixed copyright discoveries. His papers were published in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, Russia, Germany, Hungary,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Since 1995 he has been working at Nairit factory in Yerevan.

Art works

During his childhood and following years, he studied painting, and while he was at the university he studied sculpture. He also started to create

micro miniature Micro miniature (also called micro art or micro sculpture) is a fine art form. Micro figurine, miniatures are made with the assistance of microscopes, or eye surgeon tools. It originated at the end of 20th century. Museums The National Museu ...

s in 1985–1986. Rafik Badalyan had many exhibitions in Armenia,

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

, Russia, India, France,

Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. He has miniatures in United States, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Spain,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Now he lives and works in Yerevan. Besides creating micro miniatures he also carves on

precious stones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

and wood.

Sources

*Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
Rafik Badalyan's works
21st-century Armenian sculptors 1943 births Scientists from Yerevan Living people Artists from Yerevan {{Armenia-sculptor-stub