28 Facts About Hrachia Acharian

An Istanbul Armenian, Acharian studied at local Armenian schools and at the Sorbonne, under Antoine Meillet, and the University of Strasbourg, under Heinrich Hubschmann.

Hrachia Acharian then taught in various Armenian communities in the Russian Empire and Iran before settling in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1923, working at Yerevan State University until his death.

Hrachia Acharian was born to Armenian parents in Constantinople on 8 March 1876.

Hrachia Acharian was blinded in one eye at an early age.

Hrachia Acharian received initial education at the Aramian and Sahagian Schools in Samatya, then at the Getronagan, where he learned French, Turkish, and Persian.

Hrachia Acharian spoke the Constantinople dialect of Armenian natively.

Hrachia Acharian then met Heinrich Hubschmann and transferred to the University of Strasbourg in 1898.

Hrachia Acharian moved to Russian Armenia and began a teaching career at the Gevorgian Seminary in Ejmiatsin.

Hrachia Acharian thereafter taught in Shushi, Nor Bayazet, Nor Nakhichevan, and then to Iran: Tehran and Tabriz.

Hrachia Acharian taught subjects ranging from Armenian, French, Turkish, Armenian history, and literature, to accounting.

In 1923, Hrachia Acharian became one of the most prominent Armenian scholars who moved to Soviet Armenia from the diaspora.

Hrachia Acharian taught at Yerevan State University from 1923 until his death in 1953.

Hrachia Acharian knew numerous languages: Armenian, French, English, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Russian, German, Italian, Latin, Kurdish, Sanskrit, Sureth, Avestan, Laz, Georgian, Middle Persian.

Hrachia Acharian was arrested on 29 September 1937, at the height of the Stalinist purges, on espionage charges.

Hrachia Acharian was accused of being a spy for numerous foreign countries and being a member of a counter-revolutionary group of professors.

Hrachia Acharian was released on 19 December 1939 due to lack of evidence.

Hrachia Acharian became a founding member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences when it was established in 1943.

Hrachia Acharian had been a Corresponding Member of the Czechoslovak Oriental Institute since 1937.

Hrachia Acharian's most cited work is the Armenian Etymological Dictionary.

Hrachia Acharian authored a Dictionary of Armenian Proper Names, which was published in five volumes from 1942 to 1962.

Hrachia Acharian authored several major works on history and historical linguistics.

Hrachia Acharian authored the most comprehensive study on the invention of the Armenian alphabet.

Hrachia Acharian wrote a History of Modern Armenian Literature, History of the Turkish Armenian Question covering the period from 1870 to 1915, The Role of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the History of Armenian Diaspora.

Hrachia Acharian compiled catalogs of Armenian manuscripts kept at different locations.

Hrachia Acharian later cataloged the Armenian manuscripts in Tabriz, Nor Bayazet, and Tehran.

Hrachia Acharian translated the Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit, which was published by the Armenian Church press in 1911.

Hrachia Acharian wrote memoirs on Yervand Shahaziz and Srpouhi Dussap.

Hrachia Acharian is recognized as the father of Armenian linguistics by modern scholars and has been called an "undisputed authority" and the greatest Armenian linguist.