Arakel Babakhanian

Infobox academic
name = Arakel Babakhanian
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birth_date = birthdate|1860|4|14
birth_place = Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh
death_date = death date and age|1932|11|14|1860|4|14
death_place = Yerevan, Armenian SSR
field = Armenian studies
work_institutions = Yerevan State University
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known_for = "History of Armenia" ("Hayots Patmutyun") (three volumes)
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Arakel Grigori Babakhanian ( _hy. Առաքել Գրիգորի Բաբախանյան, commonly known as Leo ( _hy. Լեո); OldStyleDate|April 14|1860|April 2 – November 14, 1932) was an Armenian historian, publicist, writer, critic and professor of Yerevan State University (from 1925). He is recognized as an authoritative historian on Armenia and is best known as the author of the multivolume "History of Armenia". [Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk. "The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times, vol. 3". Detroit: Wayne State University, 2005, p. 508. ISBN 0-8143-3221-8.] Leo addressed the difficult issues of Armenian history, history of literature and many key issues of the early 20th century.hy icon Harutyunyan, Shmavon R. and Ashot K. Ohanyan. «"Լեո"» (Leo). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. iv. Yerevan: Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1978, pp. 566-567.]

Biography

Leo was born in Shushi on April 14, 1860, then a part of the Russian Empire. He graduated from the local school there in 1878. Due to his father's untimely death, Leo was unable to attend university to receive higher education and stayed in the region to support his family. [Hacikyan et al. "Heritage of Armenian Literature", p. 506.] He took up several jobs in Shushi and Baku as a notary clerk, telegraphist, and the manager of a publishing press called "Aror" ("Wooden Plough"). From 1895 to 1906, Leo worked as a journalist and secretary in Tiflis for the Armenian-language paper "Mshak" ("Tiller"). [Leo would later become the editor of "Mshak" in 1918.] In 1906, he began teaching at the Gevorkyan Religious Seminary at Etchmiadzin, although he returned to Tiflis a year later, dedicating himself to academic work.

Politically, Leo was opposed to the policies of the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun political party and was a member of the Populist (Zhoghovrdakan) Party, joining it in 1917. [Walker, Christopher J.. "Armenia: The Survival of a Nation". New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990, p. 430. ISBN 0-3120-4230-2.] Other prominent positions Leo held include being an adviser to the Seim delegation which held negotiations with the Turks in Trebizond in March 1918 and the president of the Karabakh Armenian Patriotic Association from 1918 to 1920. [Ibid.]

Academic career

Leo had welcomed the sovietization of Armenia in 1920, and in 1924, he was invited Yerevan to teach as a professor at Yerevan State University in the field of Armenian studies. He already had worked for numerous publications and published several books on Armenian history but his three volume work, "History of Armenia" ("Patmutyun Hayots", vol. I, Tiflis, 1917; vols. II and III, Yerevan, 1946-1947), is perhaps the most notable. [Hacikyan et al. "Heritage of Armenian Literature", p. 507.] Leo's "History" traces Armenian history from its beginnings until the end of the nineteenth century, with the exception of the time stretching from the sixth century to the eleventh century (due to the fact that he was suffering from an illness). [Ibid.] The work reserves a particular importance to the political, cultural and social issues that surrounded Armenian life and the role Armenia's neighbors played in the country's history.

References

Additional reading

*hy icon Ohanyan, Ashot K. "Լեոյի գեղարվեստական ստեղծագործությունը" ("Leo's Artistic Work"). Yerevan, 1969.
*hy icon Leo. "ժողովածու" ("Collected Works"). 10 volumes. Yerevan, 1966-1973.

External links

* [http://slovari.yandex.ru/dict/bse/article/00041/98600.htm?text=%D1%88%D1%83%D1%88%D0%B8 Leo in The Great Soviet Encyclopedia]