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THE ARMENIAN CAPITAL IN TIFLIS – 2019-1

The dynamics of Growth Rates of Armenian Banks and Other Commercial and Financial Institutions at the end of 19th and early 20th century

Summary

Vardan B. Yesayan

Key words – Commercial Bank of Tiflis, Mutual Credit Organization, banking capital, Armenian bank, working capital, shortterm and long-term credit organizations.

Armenian banking institutions were established in the state of Tiflis during the 70s of 19th century, being the first of their kind in the Caucasus region. Some of the larger banks established with Armenian capital were Commercial Bank of Tiflis, Mutual Credit Organization and Tiflis City Credit Organization, which played a key role in the financial-economic life of state of Tiflis and Transcaucasia region, as well as stood out with the activity of their charitable organizations. Banking institutions with Armenian capital have been established not only in Tiflis, but also in other settlements of the state.

With the establishment and development of banking institutions, their ties with the industrial sector grew stronger, which eventually led to the merger of the two and the establishment of financial capital.

The larger representatives of Armenian financial-banking capital made an attempt to establish a unified Armenian bank, which could compete with large Russian banks. However, Bolshevik revolution and the fair of Russian Empire made the realization of this project impossible.

THE PEACEKEEPING MISSION OF HOVH. TUMANYAN – 2019-1

At the afterglow of February Rebellion of 1921

Summary

Ararat M. Hakobyan

The all Armenian poet Hovh. Tumanyan, whose 150th anniversary was celebrated this year during his short but stormy and saturated life besides creating literary-creative genius monuments has conducted civic courageous steps even at the cost of endangering his life. Such is the episode about his courageous step conducted during February revolt of 1921 that broke out against Bolsheviks shortly afterwards of the Sovietization of Armenia:he arrived to Yerevan from T iflis and reconciled the two opposing sides, namely, the rebellions and the Bolsheviks.

At the last stage of the revolt in frosty winter conditions on March 13 the poet leaves for Yerevan due to the wish of the Armenians living in Tiflis, on behalf of communist leader of Transcaucasia S. Orjonikidze and , certainly, by the call of his own heart, on February 13 arrives to Yerevan on the mission of reconciliation. By overcoming great dangers the Armenian poet reaches Yerevan, perceives the unbreakable will of rebellious people in the front line and in the capital struggling for freedom and national rights. By becoming in touch with the leader of CSH S.Vratsyan and others he makes efforts for ceasing the fighting and in spite of being ill he corresponds with the Soviet ruling circles and family members and states from the sight of a witness that the February events were not adventures undertaken by a group of people but the speech of masses against the despotic Bolshevik regime. Though due to hostile posture of opposing sides the peacekeeping mission of Hovh. Tumanyan didn’t certainly give immediate results but surely had some moral effect from the perspective of mitigating the intolerant and hostile moods of both sides.

It is necessary to mention that in historical-philological literature of the Soviet period the issue of estimating the peacekeeping mission of the Armenian poet is controversial up to now. The thing is that in the works of historians and literary critics of Soviet period dealing with this problem is party- ideological partiality. Particularly the allegations about Tumanyan’s home arrest when he just arrived to Yerevan have been encircled too much which was purely persuading a political-propogandistic goal for shaping a viewpoint among the people that dashnaks had arrested even the Armenian poet. The argument for such allegation was the thing that on February 25 Georgia had become a Soviet country, which was kept as possible in secret in Armenia for the sake of providing state security and secrecy so that the society and the rebels wouldn’t learn about the fact of Sovietization of Georgia that could have affected their fighting spirit. And as the poet had arrived from Georgia the authorities of Armenia tried to keep it in secret so that the rebels wouldn’t be disappointed. In fact the reason for Tumanyan’s not leaving his elder daughter Ashkhen’s house was the severe winter: while crossing the front line in the sector of Akhta(Hrazdan)-Fanta the poet appeared under cross-fighting and, the sick poet caught cold and when reaching home actually became bed sick and got up only on April 2 when the 11th Red Army occupied Yerevan. The thing that Hovh. Tumanyan was bed sick is stated by the poet himself. Actually the revolt was oppressed , and on April 18 the Armenian poet returned to Tiflis together with S. Orjonikidze who had arrived to Armenia beforehand

Such was the odyssey of the given episode from the civil life of all Armenian poet.

ARTAVAZD PELESHYAN IN THE CONTEXT OF ARMENIAN DOCUMENTARY CINEMA – 2019-1

Summary

Artur T. Vardikyan

Key words – Artavazd Peleshyan, Hamo Beknazaryan, Ara Vahuni, Harutyun Khachatryan, traditional documentary cinema, poetic cinema, concreteness of film, Karabakh movement, film reels, poetical and poetic elements.

Filmmaker Artavazd Peleshyan is often associated with documentary cinema. However a documentary director’s main goal is to capture the fact of reality on camera. For Peleshyan, however, the fact is merely a means of creating his own poetic reality, where all in-frame objects lose their concreteness and strive to generalizations. The reason for this false association is simply that, just like documentarists, Peleshyan uses unstaged reality as the “building material” for his films. Nonetheless, it has to be said that Peleshyan’s work has greatly influenced the generations of Armenian filmmakers that followed. While keeping the attributes of Soviet documentary film, directors Ara Vahuni and Ruben Gevorgyants added new poetic elements to their films. Directors of later generation, such as Grigor Harutyunyan, Harutyun Khachatryan and Garegin Zakoyan, who were influenced by Peleshyan in one way or an other, did not just use poetic elements, but made structurally poetic films. Thus after Peleshyan started his work Armenian cinematography discovered its new course and realized itself in basically all genres of poetic film.

THE RECORDS OF THE GREAT SALA VILLAGE OF NEW NAKHICHEVAN – 2019-1

New details on the origin of Simon Vratsyans’ family

Summary

Artsruni S. Sahakyan, Ashot G. Manucharyan, Hakob S. Khatlamajyan, Sasun M. Harutyunyan

Key words – inscription, Armenian, village, cemetery, gravestone, source, scientific, information, history, survey.

Great Sala is one of the five villages in Myasnikyan region, Rostov Province, Russian Federation. It is on the left bank of the river Don and was founded by the Crimean Armenians who were exiled by the Empress of all Russia Yekaterina II (1762-1796). Independent of the hardships the re-settlers, who had left the mild climate of the Black Sea and pictueresque countryside behind, got gradually adjusted to the harsh desert conditions of Don. Moreover, they could both turn it to blooming territories and prosper themselves. According to the facts given by academician Vladimir Barkhudaryan the population of the village rose from 262 to 4191 from 1793 to 1914. Simon Vratsyan (1882-1969), the popular Armenian political person and Statesman, the first Prime-Minister of Armenia (1918-1920) stated that his birthplace of Great Sala was one of the richest, prosperous and civilized centres among the villages. He even, half-ironically but mainly with deep pride, mentioned that it was considered to be called Petite/Small Paris.

It was supposed that Armenian epigraphic inscriptions existed in the village. In 1967 a known Armenian epigraphic professor Grigor Grigoryan in the course of expedition field works managed to collect 9 inscriptions, the two of which were from the Church of Surb Astvatsatsin/St. Holy Mother, and other 7 – from the local cemetery. The collected materials were included in “Collection of Armenian Inscriptions” (VIII publication, Russian Federation, Yerevan, 1999, p.153).

In 2017 23 inscriptions were found and copied by us, 20 of which were published for the first time. Those newly found cuneiform inscriptions 50 years ago were deeply covered by thick layers of earth, grass and bushes. Due to the mentioned fact they were not revealed then and, consequently, they were not examined. The inscriptions are dated back to the mid-XIX and beginning of the XX centuries. The gravestones and grave slabs bear the names of the Armenians, the years both of their birth and death. It is interesting to mention that we can find a lot of information about Armenians and their origins in the history, namely six-volume collection by Simon Vratsyan, titled “On the Ways of Life” (Beirut, 2007).

CATTLE-SHAPED VESSELS OF TIGRANAKERT IN ARTSAKH – 2019-1

Summary

Armine A. Gabrielyan

Key words – Tigranakert in Artsakh, antique ceramics, ornamental decoration, heraldic scene, Tree of Life, goats, Ancient East, glyptic.

One of the main results of ashcan logical excavations is the rich collection of late antique pottery of Tigranakert of Artsakh (1st century BC-3rd century AD). This distinguished by the great variety of forms and types. The present article is devoted to the morphological, functional and artistic examination of antique ceramics of Tigranakert of Arsakh.

The number of such vessels founded from Tigranakert is over three dozens. One of their peculiarities is the flat-cut lip and the unique solution of the crown, which has a circular groove. These vessels do not carry any trace of fire. There are some examples of boiler-shaped vessels which have rich decorations, that is why it gives grounds to say that they were used as a tableware.

One of the sucl, vessels composition is the Life Tree and two goats standing besides.

The iconography of the heraldic-standing goats on both sides of the tree was widespread even before the 4th-3rd millennium BC in the Old East’s glyptic and in the ornamental decoration of ceramics, later also in the toreutics.

We do not know anything about the illustration with such composition among antique ceramics of Armenia. The finding of Tigranakert is still the only one that shows the viability of the existing tentative motive. The detailed examination of this composition is also important in the sense that later, especially in the Middle Ages, it was widely spread, in particular, it was stamp-ornament: of socalled stamped jars

THE APPEAL OF «you»/«You» IN ARMENIAN SPEECH ETIQUETTE – 2019-1

Summary

Anahit Z. Adilkhanyan

Key words – Speech etiquette, appeal you/You, communicative situation, social role, official, unofficial situation, degree of acquaintance, familiar attitude, characteristics of the speakers, change of the attitude, change from “you” and “You” for “you”.

All of us anyway communicate with others, and it is important to follow some etiquette, when it comes to negotiating, meetings with clients, simply politeness. It is necessary to appeal with “You” to all unfamiliar people independеntly from the age and social status, to the employees, partners and so on. It is allowed to use “you” towards the members of the family, friends and children. In the collective it is possible only between the colleagues, who make friends, but in an official situation it is necessary to apply with “You”. For a time “you” and “You” have undergone many transformations. A big etiquette importance has got the possible change from “you” to “You” and from “You” to “you”. The transition like this bear important changes in the attitude of people to each other, and this factor of attitudes comes to the fore in this case.

THE NEOLOGISMS IN THE PANEGYRICS OF NERSES LAMBRONATSI – 2019-1

Summary

Arpine M. Avetisyan

Key words – Nerses Lambronaci, Cilicia, church figure, panegyric, neologisms, adjective, verb, noun, adverb, derivative.

Nerses Lambronatsi (1153-1198) is one of the prominent representatives of the Armenian medieval literature. He is known by his diverse activities in various fields. Lambronatsi is an author of many panegyrics, anthems, sharakans, speeches, interpretations and translations. The language of Nerses Lambronatsi’s poetic heritage has unique vocabulary: he is not only a great poet, but also an original word maker. There are about twenty neologisms in his panegyrics that we have chosen based on the “New Dictionary of Old Armenian Language”. These neologisms have been quite viable, some of them have been incorporated into a collaborative vocabulary and are still being used.

THE DREAM OF HAYDUK: LERMONTOV – ISAHAKYAN – AL. BLOK – 2019-1

A Literary Sketch

Summary

Azat K. Yeghiazaryan

Key words – Isahakyan, Lermontov, Al. Blok, Armenian poetry, Russian poetry, translation, loos translation, free adaptation, romanticism, death, dream.

The article studies the three developments of the same poetic plot,that is, the death of a soldier or freedom fighter in the battlefield. In his time Lermontov wrote his famous poem “The Dream” , that tells about how a dying soldier in Daghestan sees a dream about his homeland and the woman , who thinks about him. Later the poem was shifted into Armenian by Isahakyan , but here the concrete details were changed by Armenian realities. In his work an Armenian freedom fighter,i.e. a fighter for the liberation of Armenia is dying. He died in his motherland – in the valley of Salno. He sees another dream, that is, the liberated Armenia. In those dreams the national colourfulness of two poems is clearly perceived. Later the shift done by Ishakyan was translated into Russian by Alexander Blok , who highly valued Isahakyan’s literary activity. Actually the poetic plot of Lermontov came back to Russia in the form of interpretation done by Isahakyan. But this wasn’t strangely enough perceived both by Blok and literary critics.

THE BIOPHILOSOPHY OF LEVON SHANT AND HOVHANNES TUMANYAN – 2019-1

In the cotext of references to the doctrine of psychophysics by Wilhelm Wundt

Summary

Aram G. Alexanyan

Key words – Levon Shant, Hovh. Tumanyan, wayward, pantheism, evolution, life as a spiritual reality, the ideal of Great life, activity; universal life creation, collective will.

Biophilosophy of Levon Shant and Hovh. Tumanyan has never become a separate theme for investigation by revealing the philosophical imprint of their worldview. This issue was partly touched upon in the written monographs and articles but has never been studied completely and thoroughly. Some reasearchers have pointed out that Shant had been the student of Wilhelm Wundt, but his scientific and literary heritage was never considered in the cotext of the doctrine of the German philosopher.

Moreover, the literary heritage of Hovh. Tumanian was evaluated in the field of studies devoted to him by value-based forms deriving from Soviet ideology (realism, the expresser of social protest, writer of village life, the singer of the nation’s aims, hopes and feelings, popularity and so on). To this was added the irrelevan and simplified apologetics, that is, the praise that flooded the field of studies devoted to Tumanyan. We believe that both the biophilosophy and litearary heritage of Shant and Tumanyan do need profound and comprehensive specialized study.

The aim of combined study of the biophilosophy of Levon Shant and Hovhannes Tumanya carried out in the article is to completely outline, as much as possible, the cultural transformation of Wundt’s doctrine into the litearary heritage of Armenian thinkers

The reference to the field of studies devoted to Shant, in essence, is intended to revise its relations with Nietzsche, symbolists, the precise questionings of the time and to propose an effective research method for examining his works.

The perceptions of Hovh. Tumanyan deriving from Wundt’s doctrine also have fundamental nature (a/ theory of evolution; b/ the necessity of perceiving the nations’ psychology; c/ classification of the world as a spiritual relity; e/ universal unity of mankind and ideals and so on).

To this geographical determinism and cultural-historical principle is added.

POETRY AND MÉTIER OF HISTORY – 2019-1

On Armenian Translation of Mark Block’s “History of Defense or the Historian’s Craft”

Summary

Albert A. Stepanyan

Key words – “Annalist movement”, anthropological history, general history, short and long duration of history, civilization, legitimization of history, understanding of history, poetry of history, craft of historian.

The paper is about the renowned monograph of M. Bloch «Apologie pour l’his toire ou métier d’histoire» translated into Armenian, studied and commented by Sh. Ma kar yan and S. Hovhannisyan. On the background of achievements of Annales School, the her me neutic aspect of the monograph is discussed being focused on the basic ideas and concepts of the monograph – description, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, reasoning and under stan ding of information of primary sources in order to process of them historical facts. On the axis of historical time and causality, they make up narratives and texts capable to un cover the profound levels of the past and present. Their exact equivalents shape an opportunity to expand the borders of modern Armenian historical epistemology