Karen Yuzbashyan ( hy, Կարեն Նիկիտի Յուզբաշյան, ; russian: Карен Никитич Юзбашян; 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 across 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 race; as well as the stu ...
and specialist in medieval
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
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 ( hy, հայագիտություն, ) 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 o ...
.
Biography and scholarly activity
Born in
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
in 1927, Yuzbashyan attended
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 ...
from 1946 to 1948 and studied at
Leningrad State University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
(now Saint 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 ( hy, Մատենադարան), 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 ...
in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
beginning in 1955 until he transferred to the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies in 1958.
[ Hakobyan, A. s.v. "Yuzbashian, Karen Nikiti", ]Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( hy, Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) publishing house was established in 1967 as a department of the Institute of History of the Armeni ...
. vol. 8, p. 130. In 1974, he received his ''
doktor nauk
Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...
'' after completing his thesis on the work of the eleventh-century Armenian historian
Aristakes Lastivertsi
Aristakes Lastivertsi (; 1002 – 1080) was a medieval Armenian historian and chronicler. The author of many works, Aristakes' most valuable contribution in the field of the historiography was his ''History: About the Sufferings Visited Upon ...
. 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, 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 (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...
language); he also translated Aristakes' work into Russian in 1968.
In 1988, Yuzbashyan published a study on the
Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia
The Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia ( xcl, Բագրատունեաց Հայաստան, or , , 'kingdom of the Bagratunis'), was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I Bagratuni of the Bagratuni dynasty ...
and its relations with the Byzantine Empire.
Working at the Russian Academy of Sciences, he wrote in many international journals and participated in and organized numerous international congresses and conferences. He taught at Saint 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 manuscript
Armenian illuminated manuscripts ( hy, Հայկական մանրանկարչություն, translit=Haykakan manrankarch'owt'yown), form an Armenian tradition of formally prepared documents where the text is often supplemented with flourishes suc ...
s at the university.
In addition to works concerning Armenia's history, Yuzbashyan also completed a biography on his mentor,
Joseph Orbeli
Joseph Orbeli ( hy, Հովսեփ Աբգարի Օրբելի, Hovsep Abgari Orbeli; russian: Иосиф Абгарович Орбели, Iosif Abgarovich Orbeli; 20 March ( O.S. 8 March) 1887 – 2 February 1961) was a Soviet-Armenian orientalist, p ...
, in 1964.
Selected works
* "L'administration byzantine en Arménie aux X e - XI e 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 dur ...
'' 10 (1973-1974).
* ''Armianskie gosudarstva epokhi Bagratidov i Vizantiia v IX–XI vv.''
he Armenian state in the Bagratid and Byzantine eras, 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
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