Hakob Hamazaspi Manandyan (; 22 November 1873 – 4 February 1952) was an Armenian historian, philologist, and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1939) and the Academy of Sciences of Armenia (1943). He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
Among Manandyan's most notable works is A Critical Survey of the History of the Armenian People (vols. 1–3, 1945–57).
Early life and education Hamazasp Manandyan was born on 22 November 1873 in Akhaltsikhe, in what is now Georgia. He was the eldest of three children; his two younger siblings were his sister Astghik and his brother Arsen.
Manandyan received his primary education at the Karapetyan School in his hometown of Akhaltsikhe. From 1883 to 1893, he continued his education at the First Gymnasium of Tiflis. He then went to Germany and studied Philosophy at the University of Jena, whilst simultaneously attending Oriental and Linguistic courses in Leipzig and Strasbourg (1893–1897). His teachers were prominent orientalists and linguists of the time, including Heinrich Hübschmann, Berthold Delbrück, Eduard Sievers, Otto Schrader, and Karl Brugmann. Some of these scholars represented the trend in comparative linguistics of that era, which later influenced Manandyan's work.
Throughout his educational years, Manandyan extensively studied the works of ancient and contemporary authors. He wrote about Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, and Charles Darwin.
In the summer of 1897, Manandyan completed his studies at the university by defending his dissertation in Jena, which had a philological bent and was dedicated to the study of Movses Kaghankatvatsi's "The History of the World of Aghvank". His thesis judges were Berthold Delbrück and Heinrich Gelzer, whose recommendations led to the publication of Manandyan's work in Leipzig the same year.
Manandyan also graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Languages at Saint Petersburg University in Russia in 1898. Manandyan took exams externally in Persian Philology, Language, and History, and received a first-class diploma. To study at the aforementioned universities, Manandyan received a scholarship from philanthropist Alexander Mantashyan, which allowed him to obtain a broad education and master multiple ancient and modern languages alike, including Russian, German, French, English, Greek, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, as well as Assyrian, Parthian, Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and Classical Armenian.
From 1898 to 1899, Manandyan spent time in London, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna to expand his scientific knowledge by visiting libraries and museums.
Manandyan was the Head of Forest Management and was made a part of the nobility.
Teaching at Gevorgian Seminary Upon receiving a receipt of an invitation from the administration of the Gevorgian Theological Seminary, Manandyan moved to Etchmiadzin at the end of 1899, where he worked until 1905.
At the seminary, he taught German, Greek literature, history of Greek philosophy, and English literature to the upper grades and the lecture division. In those years, Manandyan grew close to several members of the monastic brotherhood at the seminary, and actively participated in the life of the seminary by organizing various events, concerts, and theater plays.
During his years in Echmiadzin, Manandyan also engaged in scientific work, studying the spiritual and historical manuscripts of the Echmiadzin's Matenadaran (now the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts). In 1901, together with Professor F. Fink and E. Gyanjezyan, he founded the Armenological magazine "Zeitschrift für armenische Philologie," published in Armenian and German.
The journal published the scientific studies of Nicholas Adontz, Artashes Abeghyan, Hrachia Acharian, and others. Manandyan also published his scientific articles in the journal. The journal was published in Marburg, Germany. Due to financial difficulties it was discontinued after two years.
By the order of the Catholicos of All Armenians, in January 1902, Manandyan was appointed as assistant editor of the journal "Ararat", the official publication of the Mother See.
In addition to his teaching and scientific activities, Manandyan's years at the seminary were marked by meeting and marrying Varvara Tovmasi Khandamiryan, a teacher who descended from the noble Khandamiryan family of Shushi. The wedding of Hakob and Varvara Manandyans took place in the grand hall of the Gevorkian Seminary.
The Manandyans also had one daughter, Eleonora Manandyan (1907–1987), who became a psychiatrist and was given the title of Honored Doctor of the Armenian SSR.
In the spring of 1905, due to Turkish attacks on Armenians, the scientific group in Echmiadzin began to disband. As a result, Manandyan relocated with his family to the Armenian quarter of Tbilisi, where his wife's family and relatives also resided.
Publicist and legal activities Until 1907, Manandyan worked as a lecturer of Armenian, German, and Armenian Literary studies in the first and second Armenian male gymnasiums in Tbilisi. He also taught at Nersisian Armenian Apostolic Seminary in Tbilisi.
Manandyan continued his publicist activities by collaborating with the Arshaluys daily newspaper in Tbilisi, and thus from March 1906, he became its temporary editor. During those years, he published a series of articles criticizing the policy of the Imperial Government, arbitrary violence and oppression towards the small nations of the Empire.
Public speaking and teaching activities did not provide enough financial means to support the family, so he decided to study law as well.
Additionally, in 1909, he again passed exams as an extern at the University of Tartu (Dorpat), receiving a first-class diploma of Attorney-at-Law, after which he assumed the corresponding position in Baku, which at that time was mostly inhabited by Armenians and Armenian nobility. Alongside his practice of law, Manandyan taught at Baku People's University from 1911 to 1913, and later at a local trade school from 1915 to 1919. In 1917, Manandyan worked for the Armenian magazine "Gorts" published in Baku, where he published a number of articles on the ideas of national self-consciousness and national self-determination, emphasizing that the nation, being a historical living force, "fights against all the obstacles that hinder its free existence". He also offered pathways on how to implement national self-determination concepts.
Science and the development of Armenia In 1919, Manandyan returned to Armenia permanently, and actively participated in the founding of the first university. After that, he dedicated his life to the newly established Yerevan State University and Armenian students. In 1931, Manandyan stopped teaching at the university and devoted himself to scientific research.
In 1926, H. Manandyan was awarded the title of professor, and in 1935, the title of Honored Scientist of the USSR. He held the position of Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Science and Art of Armenia for multiple years. In 1939, he became the first and only representative of Armenia elected as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the field of history, and in 1943, he was confirmed as one of the first members of the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences.
From 1939 to 1946, he was elected as a deputy of the Yerevan City Council of Workers' Deputies. He was a member of many scientific commissions, supervised the candidate and research work of young historians. On the occasion of his 75th birthday, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
Manandyan died on 4 February 1952, at the age of 79. In recognition of his contribution to the establishment and development of Yerevan State University, Manandyan was buried in the courtyard of the university. In 2001, by decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, his remains were moved to the Komitas Pantheon.
On 21 December 1973, a scientific session of Yerevan State University and the Institute of History, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Manandyan's birth, was held at the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR. A street in the Shengavit administrative district of Yerevan is also named after the historian.
In 1937, the house of specialists on Teryan Street was built in Yerevan, where H. Manandyan was provided with an apartment and lived in for the rest of his life. To this day, there is a memorial stone dedicated to him at the entrance to the building. Currently, the great-granddaughter and sole heir of the scientist, Spiritual Teacher and public figure Eleonora Manandyan, lives in this house with her mother Satenik and daughter Tarieyl.
Manandyan and the Yerevan State University Foundation After the declaration of the First Republic of Armenia, despite ongoing wars, famine, and epidemics, the Armenian intellectuals recognized the need for a national university. Although in Soviet-Armenian historiography the establishment of Yerevan State University is presented as an achievement of the Soviet regime, in reality, the national university was already functioning successfully before Armenia was sovietized.
On 16 May 1919, a law titled “On the Opening of a University in Armenia,” adopted by the Council of Ministers of the First Republic of Armenia, considered the establishment of a university in Yerevan with four faculties: historical-linguistic, economic-legal, medical, and physical-mathematical – with a technical department. Professor Yuri Ghambaryan was appointed as the University Inspector. Due to the lack of conditions for construction in Yerevan, the University was temporarily relocated to Alexandropol (Gyumri).
In a short time, Armenian intellectuals who had studied at universities around the world were gathered in Alexandropol, to teach the younger generation. Among them were Hakob Manandyan, Nicholas Adontz, Joseph Orbeli, Alexander Tamanyan, Manuk Abeghyan, Hrachia Acharian, as well as prominent foreign Armenologists Nikolai Marr, Antoine Meillet, and Josef Markwart.
On 8 March 1920, when instruction had just started, Manandyan requested to be appointed as a lecturer to teach "the Greek period and language of ancient Armenian bibliography, as well as the history of the development of the Armenian culture". In a letter dated 12 June 1920, he was informed that he had been chosen as the acting dean of the faculty and was offered to begin his duties.
As newspapers of that time wrote, the university was expected to serve as a bright cresset illuminating the path for the Armenian people. It is not surprising that, in those difficult conditions, when even the physical existence of the Armenian nation was in question, when the country was filled with refugees and the wounds of the Armenian Genocide were still bleeding, Armenians were thinking about science and culture. "A handful of Armenians, subjected to the torment of endless bloodshed and suffering, with a fervent impulse of heart and soul, aspired to beauty, to the fine arts, and to enlightened science," wrote the daily newspaper ‘Narod’ in its February 1920 issue.
On 21 June 1920, the Council of Ministers of the Armenian Republic decided to return the university to Yerevan, allocating the building of the educational seminary. Classes were to resume in early October, but due to the tense military situation, they were postponed despite the students' demands to continue.