Muratsan

Outstanding Armenian writer Grigor Ter-Hovhannisyan was born in 1854 in the city ​​of Shusha in the Elizabethpol province of the Russian Empire in a family of a craftsman .

Received primary education in a private school. Then he studied at the Shusha parish school, which he graduated in 1873 . After graduating from school in 1875 - 76, he taught Armenian language and history at the school of the famous teacher Khoren Stepan. In 1877 , Muratsan traveled a lot to the memorable historical places of Karabakh and Syunik .

In 1878, Muratsan left for Tiflis , where he studied accounting and began working in one of the trading houses in Tiflis. The writer lived in Tiflis until the end of his life. His last years have been difficult. Due to problems in the family, the writer became seriously ill.

Muratsan died in 1908 in Tiflis, leaving behind a rich creative heritage, although many of his works were released only after his death.

He was buried in the Pantheon of Khojivank in Tbilisi.

Muratsan began to write as a teenager. These were mostly romantic poems, which were published in the periodicals Ararat and Dawn. In 1881, he wrote the historical drama "Ruzan or the Patriot Girl", which was only released in 1900 in the journal "Theater" and immediately brought him fame. In the 1880s, Muratsan wrote several short stories, short stories and novels. These are “The Armenian Protestant Family”, “My Catholic Bride”, “The Rich Have Fun”, “The Unreasonable Princess” and others.

In 1896, Muratsan’s novel “ Gevorg Marzpetuni ” was published, which tells about the events of the X century of the era of the Armenian kingdom of Bagratids . In the image of the Armenian king Ashot Zhelezny, the writer embodied the tragic contrast of personal happiness and duty. According to Muratsan, a historical person does not have the right to freedom, and a free person does not have the right to be a king. From this point of view, in the image of Gevorg Marzpetuni Muratsan embodied his social ideal.

In 1890, Muratsan wrote the stories “Woe to Madame Pilaryan” (1897), “Protest of Wreaths” (1899), “Why They Did Not Accept My Signature” (1902), in which the writer exposed the sharp satire of the ideologists of liberalism. In the stories “Khojivank” (1886), “The riddle of a guess” (1890), “Which of the two” (1891), “A man assumes, and a woman orders” (1897), “On demand” (1899), the writer shows inexplicable paradoxes, which lurk in the psyche of man.

Muratsan’s works such as The Apostle , Noah the Raven, The Center of the World, Andreas Eretz, and others are also very famous.

Gevorg Marzpetuni

"Gevorg Marzpetuni" is the most famous work of Muratsan. The novel was published in 1896 . In this historical novel, Muratsan raises questions that have been of interest to many writers at all times: what should be the ratio of personal freedom and duty to the Motherland, what is heroism and others. Muratsan talks about the events of the beginning of the X century, when the Armenian people waged an unequal struggle against Arab rule. The Armenian king at that time was Ashot II Iron - a visionary politician and an excellent military strategist. He was opposed by the Arab caliph Beshir, who set out to conquer Armenian lands. Muratsan tells about this difficult period for Armenia by the example of events from the life of a real historical figure - a noble Armenian nobleman, Prince (Ishkhan) Gevorg Marzpetuni, who became famous for his victories in battles against Arab invaders.

The most famous episode of the novel tells how the Arab army, led by Beshir, moving inland, approaches the shore of Lake Sevan . Beshir hopes to break the resistance of the Armenians and capture the Armenian king. But the small Armenian army led by Ashot Zhelezny , thanks to his cunning plan, manages to defeat the army of Arabs many times larger in number.

The main characters: Gevorg Marzpetuni, Ashot II, Queen Saakanuysh , the nanny Seda, Catholicos Hovhannes .

Ruzan

“Ruzan” is a poetic drama in which the action takes place in the XIII century during the campaigns of the Mongol-Tatars in Armenia. The drama tells about the daughter of Prince Hasan-Jalal Dol , who was executed by the Mongol Tatars . In the face of death, Ruzan refused to betray her homeland and remained faithful to her faith .

Andreas Eretz

The plot of the novel "Andreas Eretz" is dedicated to the history of Nakhichevan . The plot of the novel is similar to the plot of "Ruzan". The action takes place in the XVII century in Agulis . Andreas Eretz, a resident of these places, dies at the hands of the enemy. The protagonist of the book does not renounce his faith and dies in the name of faith. The meaning of the work is “to teach others the responsibility for something” and “to raise the human soul against torment and cruelty ”.

• arm Works, vols. I and II, Tiflis, 1904.
• arm Terteryan A., Creativity of Muratsan, “Shoher” (Rays), Literary, Artistic and Critical Collection, P., 1912
• Agayan G., Tumanyan O., Papazyan V., Armenian writers, part 1, ed. 2nd, Tiflis, 1914, p. 680
• Surkhatyan, Armenian literature, part 1, Erivan, 1926, pp. 474–476
• Terteryan A., Notes on our peasant writers, “Proceedings of the State University of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia”, Erivan, 1927, pages 282–286.

• E. Martirosyan. Muratsan // Literary Encyclopedia : 11 vol. - [ M. ], 1929-1939.