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Stepan Sargsi Malkhasyants (; – July 21, 1947) 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 ...
academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...
,
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, and
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...
. An expert in
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 ...
literature, Malkhasyants created the critical editions and translated the works of many classical Armenian historians into modern Armenian and contributed seventy years of his life to the advancement of the study of the
Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...
.


Early life and education

Malkhasyants was born in Akhaltsikh, in what was then
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, in 1857. He received his primary education at the Karapetian Parochial school in Akhaltsikh. From 1874 to 1878, he attended the Gevorgian Seminary in Vagharshapat (current-day
Echmiadzin Vagharshapat ( ) is the 5th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin ...
). Malkhasiants was admitted to the department of
Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...
at
Saint Petersburg 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 ...
. He graduated in 1889 with an emphasis in
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 ...
-
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and Armenian- Georgian studies. Durgarian, K. G. s.v. "Malkhasiants, Stepan Sargsi," Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 7, p. 162. Following the completion of his studies, Malkhasyants taught Armenian at schools and became a regular contributor to periodicals and academic journals. Returning to the
Transcaucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
, he took up a teaching position at the Karapetian Parochial school and later the Yeghiazarian gymnasium (also in Akhaltsikh), the Nersisian, Hovnanian and Gayanian seminaries 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 ( ...
and at the Gevorgian Seminary. After the founding of
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 February 1920, Malkhasyants became a part of the faculty of the department of history and linguistics and was the first instructor to deliver a lecture there. In 1940, Malkhasyants was awarded with 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 ...
'' in philology, ''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
''. In 1943 he helped found the
Armenian Academy of Sciences 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 acti ...
and was formally elected into its body. Grigorian, A. V. "Stepan Malkhasiantsi tsnndyan 125-amyaki artiv" n the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Stepan Malkhasiants' Birthday '' Patma-Banasirakan Handes'' 100 (1983): pp. 3-15.


Works

Malkhasyants took an active interest in the study of classical and medieval Armenian historiography prior to his graduation from Saint Petersburg State. In 1885, he published the first critical edition of the ''Universal History'', written by the eleventh-century historian Stepanos Taronetsi. He later published several other critical texts by Armenian historians, including the primary histories written by Pavstos Buzand (1896), Sebeos (1899), Ghazar Parpetsi (1904) and
Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the ''History of Armenia (book), History of the Armenians''. Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at ...
(1940). Malkhasyants took a particular interest in Movses Khorenatsi and published over 50 works on the "Father of Armenian history" in the form of books, articles, and monographs. Subsequent works also focused on the grammar of
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 ...
and ''ashkharabar'' (modern Armenian). His Russian translation of the eighteenth-century
Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...
Simeon Yerevantsi's history work, ''Jambr'', was published in 1958. In 1944-1945, Malkhasyants completed a monumental four-volume Armenian-language
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
, ''Armenian Explanatory Dictionary'' (''Hayeren Batsadrakan Barraran'', Հայերէն Բացատրական Բառարան), which went on to win the Stalin Prize in 1946. The dictionary, which Malkhasiants began putting together in 1922, provides an exhaustive vocabulary list of classical Armenian, middle Armenian, and modern Armenian words, as well as an exploration of the numerous
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
s spoken by Armenians.Anon.
Malkhasyants, Stepan Sarkisovich
." Caucasian Knot. Accessed June 25, 2008.
Malkhasyants also translated some foreign works into Armenian. In addition to
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's plays, including ''
King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...
'' and ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', he also translated the writings of
Georg Ebers Georg Moritz Ebers (1 March 1837 – 7 August 1898) was a German Egyptologist and novelist. He is best known for his purchase of the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest Egyptian medical documents in the world. Life Georg Ebers was born in Berl ...
. He died in Yerevan at the age of 89 in 1947.


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

* Malkhasyants'
''Armenian Explanatory Dictionary''
(''Hayeren batsatrakan bararan'') on Nayiri.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Malkhasyants, Stepan 1857 births 1947 deaths People from Akhaltsikhe Saint Petersburg State University alumni Linguists from Armenia Linguists from the Soviet Union Soviet philologists Armenian lexicographers Soviet Armenians Flag designers Armenian people from the Russian Empire Philologists from the Russian Empire