Grigor
Ghapantsian was one of the most influential names in Armenian
linguistics and ancient history in the first half of the twentieth
century.
Born
on February 17, 1887, in Ashtarak, he received his elementary education
in his hometown. Afterwards, he went to St. Petersburg, where he was
admitted to the Russian gymnasium (high school). After graduation, he
entered the section of Armeno-Georgian philology in the Faculty of
Oriental Languages of the local university. There, he was a student of
the famous Georgian linguist and Armenologist Nikolai Marr.
Ghapantsian
graduated in 1913 and returned to Armenia. He became a teacher of
Armenian Studies at the Gevorgian Seminary in Holy Echmiadzin, and in
1914 he participated in the archaeological excavations of Ani, led by
Marr. In the same year he published his first book, Linguistic Disciplines and Language (in Armenian). When the Seminary was closed in 1917, he settled in Yerevan. In 1918 he participated in the battle of Sardarabad.
In
1921 Ghapantsian was invited to teach at the University of Yerevan,
where he worked until the end of his life and directed the chair of
General Linguistics until 1954. He taught Classical Armenian, compared
grammar of the Armenian language, Urartian, general linguistics, and
prepared specialists in those different fields.
In
1932 he was given the grade of professor and in 1942 he earned the
doctorate of philological sciences without defending a thesis. In the
same year he was designated Emeritus Scientific Worker of Soviet
Armenia. He became a founding member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
in 1943 and was elected academician secretary of the section of Social
Sciences. He directed the Institute of Linguistics “Hrachia Ajarian”
from 1950-1955.
At
the time, Ghapantsian was one of the few experts in dead languages of
Asia Minor, like Hittite, Urartian, and Hurrian, bringing an important
element to the study of Armenian ancient history and language. His most
productive period started in the 1930s, when he published several books
in Russian and Armenian: Chetto-Armeniaca (1931, in Russian); “Common Elements of the Urartian and Hittite Languages (1936), The Hittitle Gods among the Armenians (1940), The Historico-Linguistic Meaning of Ancient Armenian Placenames (1940), The Adoration of Ara the Beautiful (1945), et cetera.
Ghapantsian’s
linguistic interests, combined with his erudition as a historian and
archaeologist, brought him to the forefront of important discoveries in
his field. He condensed many of his conclusions in several influential
monographs, such as The History of Urartu (1940), Hayasa, Cradle of the Armenians (1948, in Russian), and History of the Armenian Language: Ancient Period (1961).
In his studies, he portrayed the existence of two different layers in
the Armenian language, one Indo-European and the other local (languages
of Asia Minor and the Caucasus). He also dealt with issues of general
linguistics, publishing the book General Linguistics (1937, 1939).
Ghapantsian passed away on May 3, 1957, in Yerevan. There is a school
named after him in Ashtarak, with a museum dedicated to his scientific
career. His bronze bust is placed in the entrance of the central
building of Yerevan State University, symbolizing his importance as
scholar and teacher in the development of academic studies.
