Stepan Malkhasyants

Infobox academic
name = Stepan Malkhasyants
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birth_date = birthdate|1857|11|7
birth_place = Akhaltsikh, Russian Georgia
death_date = death date and age|1947|7|21|1857|11|7
death_place = Yerevan, Armenian SSR
field = Philology, Armenian studies, Oriental Studies
work_institutions = Armenian Academy of Sciences
alma_mater = Saint Petersburg State University
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known_for = "Armenian Explanatory Dictionary"
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prizes = USSR State Prize (1946)
religion =
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Stepan Sarkisi Malkhasyants ( _hy. Ստեփան Սարգսի Մալխասյանց; OldStyleDate|November 7|1857|October 25 – July 21, 1947) was an Armenian philologist, linguist, and lexicographer. In 1940, he became a director of philology and in 1943, co-founded the Armenian Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education

Malkhasyants was born in Akhaltsikh, in what was then Russian Georgia, in 1857. He received his primary education at the Karapetyan Parochial school. From 1874 to 1878, he attended the Gevorkyan Seminary at Vagharshapat (current-day Echmiadzin). In the final year of his studies at Vagharshapat, he was admitted to the department of Oriental studies at Saint Petersburg State University. In 1889, he graduated from the university with an emphasis in Armenian-Sanskrit and Armenian-Georgian studies.hy icon Durgaryan, K. "«Մալխասյանց»" (Malkhasyants). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. vii. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1981, p. 162.]

Works

Following the completion of his studies, Malkhasyants taught Armenian at schools and become a regular contributor in periodicals and academic journals. In 1885, he published the first critical edition of the eleventh century "Universal History", written by historian Stepanos Taronetsi. He later published several other critical texts on Armenian historians, including the primary histories written by Faustus of Byzantium (1896), Sebeos (1899), Movses Khorenatsi (1940). Subsequent works also focused on the grammar of classical Armenian and "ashqarabar" (modern Armenian).

In 1944-1945, he completed a monumental four volume Armenian language dictionary, "Armenian Explanatory Dictionary" ("Hayeren Batsadrakan Barraran"), which went on to win the USSR State Prize in 1946. The dictionary provides an exhaustive vocabulary list of classical Armenian, middle Armenian, and modern Armenian words, as well as an exploration of the numerous dialects spoken by Armenians. [Anon. " [http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/persontext/engperson/id/560807.html Malkhasyants, Stepan Sarkisovich] ." Caucasian Knot. Accessed June 25, 2008.]

Malkhasyants also translated foreign works into Armenian. He translated William Shakespeare's plays, including "King Lear" and "Macbeth", as well as the writings of Georg Ebers.

References

Further reading

* Malkhasyants, Stepan. "Material for Armenian Intelletuals' Biographies and Bibliographies". Yerevan, 1962.
* Garibyan A. "Armenia's Greatest Philologist: To the Centennial of S.S. Malkhasyants." "Communist". December 26, 1957.