Stepanos Nazarian (, , , 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
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
) 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 ...
-Russian publisher, enlightener, historian of literature and
orientalist.
Biography
He was born in the family of a priest. Graduated from the department of philosophy in the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
in 1840. In 1849 he became a professor of Persian and Arab literature in Moscow in the
Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages
The Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, ( hy, Լազարևի արևելյան լեզուների ինստիտուտ) established in 1815, was a school specializing in orientalism, with a particular focus on that of Armenia, and was the princi ...
. He published a number of scholarly works and earned his
doctoral dissertation
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
on a work analyzing
Ferdowsi's
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
.
Under the influence of the European enlightenment movement and the Russian social movement of the 1840s, Nazarian increasingly began writing against the feudal system and its ideology. In the 1850s he became the leader of the Armenian enlightenment movement. Between 1858 and 1864 he published in Moscow the influential magazine ''Hyusisapayl'' (Aurora Borealis), that had a great effect on the development of progressive public thought in Armenia. He criticized
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which deve ...
and clerical power for the spiritual revival of the Armenian people; however, he refused to classify his actions as part of a broader class struggle. Nazarian advanced the idea of public education in the new enlightenment era as well as the replacement of Classical Armenian (grabar) with the new literary Ashkarhabar. He was a supporter of
deism and promoted Russian and foreign literature. Translated many of
Friedrich Schiller's dramas.
References
* Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazarian, Stepanos
1812 births
1879 deaths
Historians from the Russian Empire
Male writers from the Russian Empire
19th-century Armenian historians
Ethnic Armenian translators
Writers from Tbilisi
Armenian people from the Russian Empire
Armenian orientalists
19th-century translators
19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire