Muratsan
Tuesday, August 31, 2021Grigor Ter-Hovhannisian (December 1, 1854 – September 12, 1908), better known as Muratsan (Մուրացան), was a prolific Armenian writer, known best for writing Gevorg Marzpetuni (1896), a historical novel set during the time of King Ashot II in Armenia in the tenth century.
Muratsan was born in the city of Shushi(Shushi) to a middle-class family. His father was a craftsman. Until the age of 12 he studied at a local private school. He was forced to cease his education due to his father's death. Two years later he enrolled in the diocesan school, from which he graduated in June 1873. In 1877 he traveled within Artsakh and researched much of the ancient ruins. Upon his return to Shushi he wrote a brief history of the noble Hasan-Jalalyan family. In 1878 he moved to Tiflis, where he worked as a teacher and accountant and remained for the rest of his life. He became famous after the production of his historical drama Ruzan at a Tiflis theater in 1882. In addition to Gevorg Marzpetuni, he wrote many short stories and novels, including The Apostle (1902). An intensely nationalistic writer, Muratsan was a nineteenth-century Romantic in style[1] and an advocate of traditional cultural and religious values.
A hospital, a street, and a school are named after him in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh.