The
nineteenth century was a period of awakening for Armenians both in the
Ottoman and the Russian Empire. In Russia, one of its pioneers was
Stepanos Nazariantz, a journalist, teacher, and orientalist.
He
was born on May 27, 1812, in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), in the family of a
priest. The Nersisian Lyceum, founded by the primate of the Armenian
Apostolic Church in Georgia, Nerses Ashtaraketsi, was opened in 1824,
and Nazariantz studied there between 1824 and 1829. He became also one
of the first Armenian students of the Caucasus to study in Dorpat (now
Tartu, in Estonia), which had one of the best, German-speaking
universities in the Russian Empire.
In
Dorpat, Nazariantz first studied at the gymnasium for a year
(1833-1834) and then at the schools of Medicine (1835-1836) and
Philosophy (1836-1840). He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the work
of Persian poet Ferdowsi, Shahnameh (Book of Kings). From
1842-1849 he was the chair of the Armenian language department at the
University of Kazan. Later he moved to Moscow, where he was professor of
Persian language and literature at the famous Lazarian Lyceum until his
death. From 1869-1871 he was also principal of the lyceum.
Influenced
by European enlightenment and Russian social movements of the 1840s,
Nazariantz wrote against the ruling feudal system and its ideology. He
was a fervent advocate of modernization, as well as of patriotic ideas,
such as the struggle against Turkish domination. He saw education as the
key of Armenian progress, and supported the development of secular
instruction and methods of pedagogy that were consistent and
age-appropriate. He advocated the use of Modern Armenian, and perhaps
his greatest achievement was the publication of the monthly Hiusisapayl (Aurora
Borealis, 1858-1864), together with his younger associate Mikayel
Nalbandian, which had an important role in the development of Eastern
Armenian. The monthly became the voice of progressive ideas, and ran
afoul of the Armenian establishment due to the discussion of sensitive
issues, such as his criticism of serfdom and clerical power. Nazariantz
and Nalbandian developed principles to modernize literary criticism
among Armenians.
Nazariantz wrote a number of books in Russian (A Brief Survey of Thirteenth Century Armenian Literature, 1844; A Survey of Armenian Literature in the Modern Period, 1846) and Armenian (Discourse on Experimental Psychology, 1853; First Spiritual Nutrition for Armenian Children, 1853; Source Book of Religion, 1854, and Review of Modern Armenian Speaking,
1857). He also wrote poetry and translated many works, including those
of Swiss poet Friedrich Schiller. He passed away on May 9, 1879, in
Moscow.
