Smbat Shahaziz (, 1840 in

Ashtarak Ashtarak ( ) is a town in the Ashtarak Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, located on the left bank of Kasagh River along the gorge, 20 kms northwest of the capital Yerevan. It is the administrative centre of the province and an i ...

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 ...

– January 5, 1908 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) 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 ...

educator, poet and publicist.

Biography

Born in a family of a priest, he was the youngest of six brothers. He was home schooled until the age 10, and then sent to Lazarian College in

. Upon his graduation in 1862 he was asked to stay and teach modern and

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 ...

at the primary school level, all the while he was preparing for a university degree. In 1867 he was granted a degree in oriental languages by the University of St. Petersburg. He obtained a college level teaching position at Lazarian College and retained it for thirty five years, until his retirement in 1897. He started writing in his student days and was influenced by Raphael Patkanian and Khachatur Abovyan. He contributed to the journal ''Hiusisapayl'' (Northern Lights), which was founded and edited by

Stepanos Nazarian Stepanos Nazarian or Nazariants (, , – ) was a Russian Armenian publisher, enlightener, literary historian and Orientalist. Biography Stepanos Nazarian was born in 1812 into the family of a priest who had moved to Tiflis (modern-day Tbilis ...

. His articles and essays received public interest and he remained a contributor until the papers demise. In 1860 he published his first collection of poems, titled (Hours of freedom) comprising thirty three poems, most of which were written in modern Armenian and few in classical. The theme of the poems varied between love, nature, and national heroes. His second book was published in 1865: it was a long patriotic poem titled (Levon's grief). The poem is about Levon, a serious-minded, idealistic Armenian youth studying in the far north. He is deeply concerned and grieved by the dire conditions of his homeland, while his compatriots carry on in prodigal life, some even deny their Armenian identities. Lonely and grieved he decides to return home and contribute to the struggle against ignorance, servility, moral and religious decline, and corrupt leadership in all domains. The poem which reflected the reformist ideology emerging in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

at the time, was very well received. Articles, essays, and speeches about the national and social issues of the time make a considerable part of Shahaziz's legacy. He encouraged the use of the modern Armenian language, criticized methods of archaic education and

conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

of religious leaders, and denounced

despotism In political science, despotism () is a government, form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute Power (social and political), power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies whi ...

and the hypocritical attitude of European powers with regards to the Armenian question. In 1893 he founded the Abovian-Nazarian Fund for writers in financial need. After his retirement in 1898 he created a committee in Moscow to organize the care and education of children orphaned because of the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide a ...

. He exposed the anti-Armenian stance of czarist Russia regime in (Recollections from the feast of Vardanank, 1901) and duplicity of Turkish diplomacy in (A few words to my readers, 1903). He died in 1908.''The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times'', by Agop Jack Hacikyan, Gabriel. Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk (pages 377-378)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahahiz, Smbat 1840 births 1908 deaths Writers from Ashtarak 19th-century Armenian poets Armenian male poets 19th-century Armenian male writers Male poets from the Russian Empire Armenian people from the Russian Empire 19th-century educators from the Russian Empire