It is an interesting fact that some of the leading experts of Armenian history and philology in Soviet times were repatriates, sometimes taking advantage of their knowledge of the main language of the field (Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, and the like). Their expertise not only made a significant contribution to their particular areas of interest, but also helped in the formation of the next generations of scholars.
One of such experts was Hrach Bartikian. He was born on July 7, 1927, in Athens (Greece), the son of Mikayel Bartikian, a philologist and journalist. He studied at a local Armenian school and then at a Greek high school, from which he graduated in 1945. The next year he moved to Armenia with his family, like many other members of the Greek-Armenian community, during the repatriation movement of 1946-1948.
Bartikian would pursue higher education at Yerevan State University. He graduated with honors from the Faculty of History in 1953 and continued post-graduate studies at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, but in Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg), under the guidance of well-known academician Hovsep Orbeli. In 1958 he defended his doctoral dissertation, “Sources for the Study of the History of the Paulician Movement,” at the State University of Leningrad. It was published in Yerevan three years later in Russian. In 1971 he would defend his second doctoral dissertation, “The Byzantine Epic Digenis Akritas and Its Significance for Armenian Studies.”
Meanwhile, from 1957 until 2010 he worked at the Institute of History of the Academy as junior researcher (1957-1961), senior researcher (1961-1980), and head of the medieval history section (1980-2010). He passed away on August 17, 2011, at the age of eighty-four.
For almost half a century, Hrach Bartikian’s name would become synonymous with Armeno-Byzantine studies in Armenia. Besides some 150 scholarly articles, he also published seventeen books, including the Armenian translations, with study and notes, of various noted Byzantine historians (Procopius of Caesarea, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, John Scilitzes, Teophanos the Confessor, and others), the Armenian translation of the Byzantine epic Digenis Akritas, the Modern Armenian version of Armenian medieval historian Mateos Urhayetsi’s Chronicle, and a collection of documents, Greek Archival Documents about Armeno-Greek Relations during the First Republic (1918-1920) .
Bartikian started his scholarly career with the study of the Paulician movement, a sectarian manifestation born in Armenia, which had a second life in the Byzantine Empire, and then he devoted himself to the study of Armeno-Byzantine relations during and after the time of the Bagratuni dynasty, making a substantial contribution in the field. He was also a prolific researcher of epigraphic inscriptions and seals.
The historian was also a well-known specialist of the relations of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and Byzantium. For this reason, he was invited to participate in the 1993 conference on Cilicia organized by the Armenian Prelacy and spearheaded by Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, Prelate, of blessed memory.
Hrach Bartikian’s extensive and erudite scholarly production would earn him many scientific accolades. He was elected member of the Academy of Athens (1980), the Tiberina Academy of Art, Literature, and Sciences of Rome (1987), and the Academy of Sciences of Armenia (1996). He was decorated with the medal of Mesrop Mashtots of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, the medal of Aristoteles of the University of Salonica (1981), and the Prize of the President of Armenia (2005), the latter for his three-volume Armenian-Byzantine Studies.
