Martiros Kavoukjian (Մարտիրոս Գավուգչյան, Gavowgčyan, August 8, 1908 - August 8, 1988) was an Armenian architect, researcher, Armenologist and historian-archaeologist who has written various books on ancient Armenian history.[1][2] He is best known for his account of Armenian prehistory in Armenia, Subartu And Sumer, published in 1987 in both English and Armenian.

Martiros Kavoukjian
Born(1908-08-08)8 August 1908 [1][2]
Nigde, Ottoman Empire[1][2]
Died8 August 1988(1988-08-08) (aged 80)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
OccupationArchitect, researcher[1][2]
NationalityArmenian
Period1941-1988

Biography

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Martiros Kavoukjian was born in Nigde, Ottoman Empire on August 8, 1908. His family soon moved to Mosul, which was also at the time part of the Ottoman Empire.[1][2] Kavoukjian graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1934 majoring in Architectural engineering, then worked as the chief municipal architect of Mosul, Iraq during the period from 1941 to 1947.[1][2] In Iraq, he designed and built both governmental and residential buildings.[1][2] Kavoukjian immigrated to Armenia in 1947, and in 1947-1979, he played a key role within the "Great Rebuilding Project" of Armenia as the chief architect, building numerous federal, public, industrial, and residential buildings.[1][2] In 1973, his "The Origin of the Names Armen and Hye and Urartu" was published in Beirut.[1][2]

Studies of Kavoukjian have been cited in the works by Edgar C. Polomé, Alexander Jacob,[3] George A. Bournoutian,[citation needed] Robert Hewsen,[4] Agop Jack Hacikyan,[citation needed] Levon Shahinyan,[citation needed] Anzhela Teryan,[5] Rafael Ishkhanyan,[6] Karapet Sukiasyan,[7] Lily Stepanyan,[8] but were mostly ignored in Soviet academia.[citation needed]

Armenologist, archimandrite Gomidas Hovnanian in a 2006 interview described Kavoukjian as "a talented scientist" who had written a research on "The ancestral home of the Celtic tribes and Celtic-Caucasian connections".[9]

In 2008 an evening commemorating Kavoukjian's legacy took place in Montreal, Quebec.[10]

Armenia, Subartu And Sumer

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Armenia, Subartu And Sumer
AuthorMartiros Kavoukjian
LanguageEnglish, Armenian
GenrePrehistory
PublisherM. Kavoukjian
Publication date
1987
Publication placeUnited States
Pages243

Kavoukjian's book Armenia, Subartu And Sumer is inspired by the Armenian hypothesis of Indo-European origins. It seeks to establish an ethnic Armenian identity for the "Armani" mentioned by Naram-Sin, for "Armani-Subari connections" and "Armani-Subari-Sumer relations". The English translation was published privately with the support of the Malkhassian Foundation, Montreal. The book has been called a "chauvinist attempt to equate the Proto-Armenians with various mentioned peoples in cuneiform and classical sources" by P. Kohl and G. Tzetzkhladze (1996).[11] Robert Hewsen described it is as a "speculative but provocative study."[4]

Works

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  • The Genesis of Armenian People, Montreal, 1982.
  • Armenia, Subartu and Sumer, Montreal, 1989 ISBN 0-921885-00-8
  • The origin of the names and Armen Aye, and Urartu, in the subway.) Beirut, 1973

Bibliography

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  • Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, Edition-1976, Vol. 2, Pages-697, 698
  • THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR ARMENIAN STUDIES, Kavoukjian, Martiros. Armenia, Subartu and Sumer. Review by R.D. Wilkinson. Vol. 5 (1990–1991): pp. 189–192.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, Edition-1976, Vol. 2, Pages-697, 698
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Martiros Kavoukjian: Biography on Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia" (PDF) (in Armenian). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. 1976. pp. 697, 698.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Ātman: a reconstruction of the solar cosmology of the Indo-Europeans, by Alexander Jacob - 2005 - 253 p.
  4. ^ a b Hewsen, Robert H. (2002). "Golden Plain: The Historical Geography of Tsopk/Kharpert". In Hovannisian, Richard G. (ed.). Armenian Tsopk/Kharpert. Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces. Costa Mesa, Calif: Mazda Publ. pp. 36, n. 3. ISBN 978-1-56859-150-6.
  5. ^ (in Armenian) Anjela Teryan, "The cult of Ar god in Armenia", Yerevan, Aghvank, 1995, p. 3 (preface by Prof. Levon Shahinyan)
  6. ^ Rafael Ishkhanian, Patkerazard Patmutyun Hayots, Book 1, 1989, Arevik, ISBN 5-8077-0057-0 (5-8077-0057-0)
  7. ^ (in Armenian) Karapet Sukiasyan, "Armens and Ararat", LA, 1996
  8. ^ L.G.Stepanyan, "Armenian (indo-European) stratus in the Polynesian languages", Vol. I, Yerevan, 2001
  9. ^ Hovnanian is convinced that "the 'unknown country of the Celts' is Armenia (named "Aratta" by the Sumerians)". This question has been considered in detail by talented scientist Martiros Kavoukjian in his "the ancestral home of the Celtic tribes and Celtic-Caucasian connections", and more recently Ruben Yegiazaryan has added his contribution to the topic with the book "Celtic symbolism and Armenian legend" (Yerevan, 2005, in Russian).
  10. ^ "Armenian Calendar". Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  11. ^ "Nationalism, politics, and the practice of archaeology in the Caucasus", in: Kohl, Fawcett (eds.), Nationalism, Politics and the Practice of Archaeology, Cambridge University Press (1996), ISBN 0521558395, p. 176
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