Khachatur Abovyan “The people whose hand is weak are pitiful... Khachatur abovyan - wounds of armenia

Abovyan Khachatur Avetikovich, writer, teacher, literary ethnographer, educator, founder of pedagogy and new Armenian literature. In 1819-22. studied at the Etchmiadzin monastic school, and in 1824-26. studied at the Nersisyan school in Tiflis. From 1830 to 1835 he studied at the University of Dorpat (now the city of Tartu), in 1827-28 he led teaching activities in the monastery schools of Haghpat and Sanahin. From 1829-30 he was a translator and secretary of the Catholicos and Synod in Etchmiadzin. On October 9, 1829, Abovyan, together with the expedition of Dorpat University professor F. Parrot, climbed to the top of Mount Ararat and was persecuted by the clergy for this “blasphemy.” In 1837-43 was a caretaker and teacher at the Gavar regional school, and in 1843-48 a caretaker at the Yerevan regional school. In March 1848, he was appointed superintendent of the Nersisyan school in Tiflis. The authorities, however, prevented educational activities Khachatur Abovyan. In 1848 he left the house and never returned.

Abovyan left a huge literary heritage in Armenian, Russian and German. The first poems in Grabar (ancient Armenian language) reflected Abovyan’s romantic worldview (A man who loves his people...(1824). With whom to share his grief...(1824). In the 1820s, he wrote songs about longing and love. He was worried such questions as the fate of the individual and the homeland, the opposition of dreams and inharmonious reality (Painful feeling of the heart... This heavy blow, Spring, Love for the Motherland (1831-1835).

He also wrote fables, stories, notes, reflections of travelers (“Entertainment at leisure”, 1838-41, “The Turk’s Daughter”, “New Ascent to Ararat” 1847).

In new Armenian literature, the turning point was historical novel"The Wounds of Armenia" (1841, published 1858). This is the first Armenian novel, with the appearance of which Armenian romanticism was born. The novel depicts the state of the Armenian people during the period of domination of Persia and Turkey, as well as their national liberation struggle and the annexation of Eastern Armenia to Russia. Abovyan showed the tragedy historical fate of the Armenian people and he linked the hope for revival with the unity of the nation, as well as the spread of education and enlightenment. Abovyan considered faith and language to be the most important factors in the matter of self-preservation of the nation, so he made Ashkharabar (the new Armenian language) a literary language understandable to the population. Abovyan raised the issue of general education and saw the path of moral improvement in the beauty of art, as well as in educational activities.

The works of Khachatur Abovyan are a valuable contribution to the new Armenian historiography (“A few words about the Armenians”, “Journey to the ruins of Ani”). In his opinion, the historical past should become an impulse in the decision current problems liberation struggle. Abovyan created the first Armenian-Russian comparative grammar, and the writer’s pedagogical ideas took shape under the influence of the views of J. J. Rousseau, I. Pestalozzi and Franke. His pedagogical ideas and principles were embodied in “Foredropia” and in the novel “The History of Tigran, or Moral Instruction for Armenian Children” (1840s). Abovyan became the founder of Armenian ethnography (“Structure of rural houses”, 1835, “Essay on the life of Armenians living in Tiflis”, 1840), folklore, and also became the founder of Kurdish studies in Armenia (“Kurds”, “Yazidis”, 1846). Abovyan translated the works of Homer, V. Goethe, F. Schiller, N. Karamzin into Armenian.

TO THE HIGH-NOBLE MILITARY LEADER,

TO THE VALORABLE PATRIOT,

TO THE NOBLE DESCENDANT NUT,

TO THE CROWNED KNIGHT SMBATH

WITH ASSURES OF YOUR DEEPEST RESPECT

To whom will I open the casket of my hour-long sorrows?

Who can I show the gaping wounds of the living?

My lyre is sad, humbled, dejected,

A long time ago, the string of hope in my soul was broken.

I would come out of the crypt, where there is cold and silence,

To mourn a piece of land where my life should decay.

And in nothingness without a bottom, where death alone reigns,

Among the ancestors of the saints, rest in the peace of eternal sleep.

At least bring a handful of your ashes to their graves,

Move away from terrifying troubles into oblivion!

You revived my spirit again, where the light had almost gone out,

You once again illuminated my lowly drooping spirit with light.

I saw how much you love your native country,

I saw your nobility, the depth of your soul -

And suddenly the scales fell from my tear-stained eyes,

And again inspired, my soul rushed towards you.

My mortal sleep will escape, and I will return to life again.

You, homeland, are a land of miracles, and you, O sons of Gadget,

They are strong in the sublimity of their souls and their truth;

Showed me a new paradise, warmed the holy day

Over my gloomy, tormented soul.

In anguish, falling to my knees, I wait to find

Your guiding star in the sky.

At this moment, when a fervent prayer rushes to the sky,

You stand on high, and below there is a crowd of brave Gaikans.

In a wondrous vision he arose, merging with the host of fathers,

By right you shared the immortality of the brave.

Like that leader of Cilicia, you are also called Smbat,

His valor, honor, ardor, and heart burn in you.

You will open my lips, you will convey my dream

To our heroes, my call will be heard in any region.

Their glory is buried under the ashes of centuries of storms -

Strange, I didn’t know then how priceless their price was!

If you don't gossip about the solemn brabion,

And if you are not yet worthy of honor by us,

That's the Muse your name will lift you to the very heavens,

You will be equal to the gods, our knight and patriot.

And where the memory of our holy fathers lives,

Henceforth your glory will prevail, overcoming the centuries,

Standing indestructibly, imperishable and high.

When Croesus, king of Lydia, after Cyrus had taken possession of the whole world, having also captured his country, and on the battlefield, his troops, favorites, friends, military leaders abandoned him, and he, Croesus, who grew up in pearly chambers decorated with gems, believed, that there was no happier man in the world than him, he fled, gasping for breath, in front of the Persian warrior, in order to at least carry off his head - the Persian overtook him. The sword flashed above his head, his eyes darkened. He had not yet lost his life, but, thinking that death was about to tear his soul out of his body, he wanted to plunge the sword into his chest, so as not to die from the enemy, and the warrior, meanwhile, had already raised his sword over him , - as the only son of the king, seeing the imminent death of his parent, suddenly opened his lips: his tongue, fettered by silence for twenty years, was resolved, and his heart, silent for twenty years, began to speak for the first time:

- Wicked man! Who are you killing? Put away your sword! Don't you see that before you is Croesus, ruler of the world?

The warrior's hands dropped, the king's head survived - the twenty-year-old mute son saved his father. The poor prince lived for so many years, and never once did he see the love of his parents, nor their compassion, nor the passionate desire to hear his voice and thereby satisfy his heart, nor glory and greatness, nor honor and power, nor treasures and riches, nor love for the world and His joys, neither the affection and sweet conversation of so many favorites and friends, nor the thunder of heaven, nor the sweet melody of a stream or feathered birds in his entire life had such an effect on his heart that he made even the slightest sound - but when he saw the inevitable death of his parent, his dear father, his heart threw off its grave lid, the hitherto silent tongue untied its fetters, its sealed lips uttered their sorrow. The sad father, whose life hung in the balance, heard his son's voice. With this story, even now, the heart of the listener lights up with fire, as soon as he thinks that filial love was able to break and crush the fetters imposed by nature itself.

Tom is no longer twenty, but thirty. extra years, my dear parent, my beloved people, how my heart also caught fire; it burns and turns to ashes; day and night, tears do not leave my eyes, the sighs of my lips - so I long to tell you, oh my half-blooded friends, my thought and my cherished desire and only then descend into the ground.

Every day, I saw my grave with my own eyes, every hour, the fiery sword of death revolved above my head; every minute of my life, your grieving heart burned and tormented my heart, I constantly heard your sweet voice, saw your face that pleases my eyes, felt your noble thought and will, tasted your pure love and friendship, reflected on your lost glory and greatness, on the deeds and lives of our former magnificent kings and princes, on the past delights and wonders of our dear homeland, our sacred land, on the incomparable character and exploits of the valiant Armenian people.

Masis always appeared before me, showing me with his finger which country I was a child of; Paradise was forever alive in my thoughts, both in dreams and in reality, reminding me of the glory and greatness of our country. Hayk, Vardan, Trdat, the Illuminator told me that I was their son. Europe and Asia tirelessly told me that I am the child of Gaik, the grandson of Noah, the son of Etchmiadzin, an inhabitant of paradise. In a field or in a church, far from home or under a roof, where the foot of my people has walked and is now walking, and the stones seemed to want to tear out, take my heart out of my chest.

How often, at the sight of an Armenian, I wanted to tear my last breath out of my chest and give it to him.

But alas! My tongue was fettered and my eyes were open; the lips are closed and the heart is deep; the hand is powerless and the tongue is short. I didn’t have a treasury to fulfill my desires, I didn’t have big name so that my word reaches where it should. Our books are written in Grabar, and our new, living language is not held in high esteem - and I could not express my heartfelt melancholy in words. I couldn’t give orders, and if I asked or begged, no one would understand my words. But I also wanted not to be ridiculed, not to be told that I was rude, stupid, that I was not versed in grammar, in rhetoric, in logic. I also wanted them to say: “Oh, how thoughtfully, how cleverly he knows how to express his thoughts - the devil himself can’t understand a word, he won’t understand!..” I also wanted to show myself, so that they would be surprised at me, praise me: I, they say , also a document in the Armenian language!

Some people know one language - I know several. Quite a lot different books I started translating and did not finish it. And I myself invented so many poems and essays on the grabar that they could make up a whole voluminous book.

God brought several children to me during this time, and I had to teach them to read and write. My heart was breaking: no matter what Armenian book I gave them, the children did not understand. Whatever they start reading in Russian, German, French, their innocent souls like everything. Often I was ready to tear my hair out, seeing that these children foreign languages I like it more than our own.

Biography

Abovyan Khachatur Avetikovich - great Armenian writer, democratic educator, founder of new Armenian literature and a new literary language, teacher, ethnographer - was born on October 15, 1809 in the village of Kanaker. Khachatur Avetikovich belonged to the old and noble Abovents family, whose noble deeds and family legends were reflected in the writer’s work.

From the age of 9, Abovyan was sent to the Etchmiadzin Monastery to study and be ordained. Abovyan studied there until 1822, after which in February 1826 he graduated from the Nersisyan Armenian school in Tiflis. His teachers were wonderful Armenian teachers of his time - Poghos Karadagtsi and the poet Harutyun Alamdaryan.

The Russian-Persian War that began in 1826 prevented Abovyan from realizing his dream: to continue his education in Europe or Russia. For a short period from 1827-1828 he taught at the Sanahin Monastery, and from May 1828 he again settled in Etchmiadzin and worked as a translator and secretary of the Armenian Catholicos.

In 1829, with an expedition led by Dorpat University professor F. Parrot Abovyan climbed to the top of Ararat (September 27). And from 1830-1836. Abovyan is undergoing training in Dorpat as a state scholarship holder. Dorpat becomes the place of Abovyan’s spiritual rebirth. He studies science, languages, art and returns to his homeland as a writer and teacher at the level of Russian and European progressive thinkers of his time. But in his homeland, Abovyan is not given the expected assistance; they shun him as a heretic. Soon he renounces his clergy title.

From 1837-1843 (June) Abovyan works in Tiflis as a caretaker of a local district school, at the same time opening private school, for the purpose of teacher training public schools, to combat medieval backwardness. But the bureaucrats continue to obstruct Abovyan’s educational activities.

In August 1843, Abovyan moved to Yerevan to do what he loved and finally find peace of mind. However, his spiritual drama deepens. In the spring of 1848, Abovyan was preparing to leave for Tiflis to accept the position of director of the Nersisyan school. But on the morning of April 2 (14 local time) he left the house and never returned. Circumstances mysterious disappearance, tragic death it has not yet been finally clarified.

(1805- and 1848) - great Armenian writer, democrat-educator, teacher, founder of new Armenian literature and new Armenian literary language. Abovyan experienced the beneficial influence of Russian democratic culture, such representatives as Griboedov, and others. During his stay at the University of Dorpat (1830-1836), Abovyan became closely acquainted with advanced Russian social thought And literary life Pushkin era. This was of great importance for the formation of his worldview. His friend, an Azerbaijani educator, was personally connected with the Decembrists.

Abovyan is the author of the novel “Wounds of Armenia” (written in 1840, first edition - 1856) and a number of other works in which he enormous power reflected the heroism of the national liberation struggle of the Armenian people against the Persian and Turkish conquerors. He defended the human right to freedom, including national freedom. Understanding freedom as a consequence of the natural equality of people, Abovyan rejected the Christian morality of non-resistance to evil and affirmed the idea of ​​​​the activity of the people. Pointing out that Christian ideology must be seen as one of the reasons for the “misfortune of our nation,” he argued that the people have the right to use weapons against their enemies. Abovyan's works are imbued with a deep belief in the power of the people.

In his works, Abovyan exposes the cruelty of the exploiting serfs, priests, monks, and rich people, and shows the awakening of the spirit of protest among the serfs. However, the weak development of the class struggle in the 30-40s of the 19th century. in Armenia did not allow Abovyan to bring the anti-serfdom ideology to revolutionary democracy, to the demand for the revolutionary overthrow of serfdom.

IN philosophical statements Abovyan has a materialistic tendency. Not yet daring to question religious-idealistic fictions, according to which the world was generated by God, the “world spirit,” Abovyan, however, paid great attention to natural scientific hypotheses about education solar system, the emergence of flora and fauna. With all his creativity, Abovyan sought to attract people’s attention to “earthly affairs” and spoke with undisguised irony about the “otherworldly” world. For Abovyan, the spiritual is a property of only some bodies. “The tree exists, exists, but is not aware of its existence, the animal is aware, but vaguely; a person exists, exists, is aware of his existence because he thinks.”

The soul of a person is a property of his body, it appears with him and is destroyed with him, therefore talk about other world. The immortality of a person lies in his deeds. Abovyan understood that his ideas were directed against religion and idealism, but he himself did not draw atheistic conclusions. This indicates inconsistency philosophical views Abovyan. The materialistic tendencies of his philosophy appear especially clearly in the question of knowledge. The source of knowledge is objects of the objective world. “We must first identify objects sensually, and then understand their order through thought.” “First test it experimentally, and then lock yourself in a room,” he said.

Considering art as a reflection of life, Abovyan demanded that Armenian literature leave religious themes and turned to the life of the people, sang their wisdom, heroism, courage and nobility. Highest goal art - to serve the people.

One of the main ideas in Abovyan’s work is the idea of ​​​​the unbreakable friendship of the Armenian people with the Russian people. “Worlds may collide with worlds, peoples may come and disappear, but as long as an Armenian has breath and language, how can he forget the hour when the Russians liberated the Armenian country.” Abovyan’s ideas about the eternal friendship of the Armenian people with the Russian people, with the peoples of Transcaucasia, like his other ideas, played a role in history Armenian culture huge role. They entered the treasury of the democratic Armenian XIX culture V. and, having been developed by a revolutionary democrat

Khachatur Avetikovich Abovyan(Armenian; October 15, 1809, Kanaker village, near Erivan (Yerevan) - disappeared April 14, 1848) - Armenian writer, founder of new Armenian literature and a new literary language (based on the Eastern Armenian dialect instead of the outdated Grabar), teacher, ethnographer.

Biography

Born in the village of Kanaker near Erivan (Yerevan) in the Erivan Khanate, he belonged to the ancient and noble Abovents family.

• 1818-1822 - training in Etchmiadzin
• 1824-1826 - studied at the Nersisyan Armenian school in Tiflis. His teachers were wonderful Armenian teachers of his time - Poghos Karadagtsi and poet Harutyun Alamdaryan
• 1827-1828 - teaches at the Sanahinsky monastery.
• Since May 1828 he has worked in Etchmiadzin as a translator and secretary of the Armenian Catholicos.
• On September 27, 1829, with an expedition led by Dorpat University professor Friedrich Parrott, he climbed to the top of Ararat.
• 1830-1836 - studying at the University of Dorpat.
• 1836 - return to his homeland with the aim of opening a seminary in Etchmiadzin to train teachers of Armenian schools, conflict with the clergy on this basis. Completion of the economic-geographical study “On ways to improve the economic and cultural state of Armenia and the Armenian people” (at German); renunciation of clergy.
• 1837 - June 1843 - caretaker of the local district school in Tiflis, at the same time opening a private school to train teachers for public schools.
• From August 1843 - caretaker of the local district school in Yerevan.
• 1843-1844 - participation in the physical-geographical surveys of Eastern Armenia by the German geographer M. Wagner; accompanying the Prussian traveler A. von Haxthausen on trips around Armenia to study agrarian relations; joint trip to Armenia with German poet F. Bodenstedt, translation into German, on the latter’s advice, and preparation for publication of Armenian, Kurdish and Azerbaijani songs in Germany
• 1845 - independent trip to the settlements of the Kurds, which resulted in the works “Kurds and Yezidis”, “Essay on the origin, national characteristics, language, life and customs of the Kurds”, etc. (in German)
• 1846 - together with the honorary caretaker of the Erivan district school N.V. Blavatsky, collects materials for the first local history office in Armenia
• In the spring of 1848, he was preparing to leave for Tiflis to accept the position of director of the Nersisyan school, but went missing.

Opened the first school in Armenia based on European pedagogical principles, which was completely secular in nature (which largely turned church leaders against Abovyan). For the first time I taught and compiled textbooks in spoken language(ashkharabar).

He was the first in Armenia to begin to engage in scientific ethnography, studied the life and customs of the peasants of his native village of Kanaker, the residents of Yerevan, and also collected and studied Armenian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish folklore.

Works

Novel “Wounds of Armenia”

His main work is the historical novel “The Wounds of Armenia” (1841, published 1858) - the first Armenian secular romance in spoken language. Dedicated to the liberation struggle of the Armenian people during the Russian-Persian War of 1826-1828. and written in the living vernacular Armenian language. The name itself speaks of its patriotic and political character. Abovyan draws difficult situation Armenians under Persian rule.

The hero of the novel “Agasi” opens a gallery of images of that “ideal citizen and patriot”, that positive personality, which many other writers were busy reproducing; Agasi - the predecessor of future patriots-lovers of the people half of the 19th century century.

This work of Abovyan won the right of citizenship in literature for a new Armenian language(before that they used ancient Armenian, the so-called “grabar”) and became the beginning of eastern new Armenian literature.