ABSTRACT
The principal of the school in Erivan was Khachatur Abovian, a pioneer of modern Armenian literature, born in 1805 when the province still belonged to Persia. At the time of the Russian annexation in 1828 he was serving as a deacon in the monastery at Echmiadzin. In September of that year he was assigned to accompany the German explorer Friedrich Parrot on the first Russian-sponsored expedition to Ararat. When the climbers reached the summit on the third attempt, Abovian dug a hole in the ice and erected a wooden cross facing north. Subsequently Parrot arranged for Abovian to study at the Baltic university of Dorpat (now Tartu), where the explorer taught. After returning to Transcaucasia, Abovian was appointed head of the Erivan school in 1843.
