REMEMBRANCE AND APPRECIATION ARMENIAN SCHOOL ALUMNI OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Armenian News Network / Groong
August 3, 2005
Travel Wire
By Ruth Bedevian
YEREVAN, ARMENIA

Where and how did Modern Armenian Literature and public education come about after centuries of feudal life?
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With the captivity of King Leon de Lusignan in 1375, Cilician Armenia ceased to exist. Armenians lost political independence and power. Consequently, the extraordinary momentum of Armenian intellectual enlightenment which had flourished in the monasteries following Armenia's conversion to Christianity in 301 AD was badly shaken. Despite this wound and the adverse political situation from the 14th to the 18th centuries, Armenian education continued its concentration in the monasteries.[...]. Beginning with the middle and later decades of the 18th century, parochial schools also began to function in large cities outside of Armenia. These schools were closely affiliated with local churches.
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At the dawn of the 1800s, Armenians were under Persian, Ottoman or Russian rule, depending upon which part of their ancient soil they happened to be born. Into this climate Armenian youth strove for intellectual growth and not having a university of their own, left for foreign universities [...] but to enter these demanding universities who used the Russian, German or French languages of instruction, an entrant had to be very well prepared. The fertile ground for this preparation was laid primarily at six stellar institutions.

Six important schools were established during the 1800s: the Aghababyan School in Astrakhan [Southern Russia]; The Lazaryan Academy in Moscow; the Nersisian School in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia); the Gevorgian Seminary in Etchmiadzin; and the Perperian and Kedronagan schools of Constantinople. These schools, with the exception of Gevorgian and Kedronagan, do not exist anymore, but their contributions to Armenian intellectual life are invaluable.[...].They prepared a stateless people to reassure themselves; they fostered national pride and spirit in the common people as they were to enter the 20th century to face the blackest event in their history and thus, far greater dispersion.
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It is fair to speak of the Mekhitarists in the context of their contribution to the Modern Armenian Literature Movement and their efforts to educate the common people. This Armenian Catholic Order accomplished significant ground work in the 1700s, establishing itself in Venice, Italy in 1715. It rendered invaluable service to the common people through the establishment of schools. [...].
This constellation of significant schools that spanned thousands of miles across the map from Tiflis to Astrakhan to Moscow to Constantinople to Italy ushered the Armenian people into the 20th century. The noble deeds of hundreds of alumni validate the great impact of these schools. Collectively, these students and their classmates [too numerous to list here] bequeathed a legacy of literature and leadership. They set an example of academic excellence and integrity. They demonstrated respect for universal humanity with their interest in international literature and diligent translations of foreign writers. Even more, while studying the foreigners' literature and using the foreigners' language, they cultivated and sustained an abiding love for their own language, literature and nation. And where does such love germinate, but under the protective wing of the home and school. `Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' Proverbs 22:6

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.