Arsen Kotsoyev ( os, Коцойты Арсен, Kocojty Arsen; January 15, 1872 - February 4, 1944) is one of the founders of Ossetic

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

, who had a large influence on the formation of the modern

Ossetic language Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Ossetia ...

and its functional styles. He participated in all of the first Ossetic periodicals, and was one of the most notable Ossetian publicists. There are streets named after Kotsoyev in

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Ru ...

and

Beslan Beslan (russian: Бесла́н; os, Беслӕн, ''Beslæn'', ) is a town and the administrative center of Pravoberezhny District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia, located about north of the republic's capital Vladikavkaz, ...

. His writings are mainstays of school courses on Ossetian literature.

Life

Kotsoyev was born to a poor family in the Ossetian countryside (the village of Gizel, close to Vladikavkaz) in

Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of t ...

. At the age of nine he was enrolled in the local school. There he found a large collection of books, which enriched his education. After school he studied at the Ardon

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Seminary, but a sudden illness made him leave the seminary. He returned to Gizel and began writing short essays for newspapers of the North Caucasus. He also worked as a teacher at the local school. In 1902 he took part in the uprising at Gizel, leading to his expulsion from the region. He chose to go to South Ossetia, where he continued to work as a teacher, and wrote short stories and essays. In 1910 he began publishing a magazine called "Æфсир" (''Æfsir'', ear f wheat based 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 ...

(today's Tbilisi,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

). Only 14 issues were published, but it had an immense impact on Ossetian literature and journalism. Many famous works of Ossetian literature were first published in it. In 1912 Kotsoyev moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he worked in many places, including

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

's famous newspaper ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

''. Despite his rural origins, he knew Russian well enough to proofread Russian newspapers. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, Kotsoyev's fame grew. He worked for various newspapers and magazines, and in education and related fields. He died in Vladikavkaz and was buried in the yard of the Literature Museum.

Work

Most of Kotsoyev's short stories are tragic, including stories about the severe traditions of the highlanders, such as "

blood revenge A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

" (vendetta), irad ( bride money), and superstitions. He often wrote about traditional highland natives transplanted to a new, Europe-oriented world, and their fates. Kotsoyev translated many works into Ossetic, including several stories by

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

External links

"Ювелир осетинского слова". Об Арсене Коцоеве

Коцойты Арсен. "Цыппар туалладжы"

A Collection of Russian translations of the stories by Kotsoyev
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotsoyev, Arsen 1872 births 1944 deaths People from Prigorodny District, North Ossetia–Alania People from Terek Oblast Ossetian people Russian male short story writers Russian publishers (people) Russian translators