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Rafayel Ishkhanian

Armenian historian (1922-1995)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ1985750 ↗
Source-derived summary

Rafayel Avetisi Ishkhanyan (Armenian: Ռաֆայել Ավետիսի Իշխանյան, 9 March 1922 – 6 February 1995) was an Armenian linguist, philologist and historian. He was a professor of the Yerevan State University.

Biography

Ishkhanyan was born in Yerevan in 1922 to Bolshevik revolutionaries Avetis and Haykanush Ishkhanian. His father Avetis was executed in 1937 during the Great Purge. In 1939, Ishkhanyan entered the department of philology of Yerevan State University (YSU). He was called up for military service in 1940 and participated in World War II, during which he was wounded and taken prisoner, then released from imprisonment and continued his service. After demobilization, he continued his studies and graduated from YSU in 1949. In 1954 he graduated from the Moscow State Library Institute. In 1973 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the subject "History of the language of new Armenian literature".

From 1955 to 1963 he held various positions at the National Library of Armenia and at Matenadaran.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Rafayel Ishkhanian” as armenian historian (1922-1995). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Rafayel, Ishkhanian and Armenian.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1922, 1995, 1937, 1939—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1922-03-09. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Rafayel, Ishkhanian and Armenian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Rafayel Ishkhanian”, the useful work is to connect “armenian historian (1922-1995)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1985750. VIAF identifies the subject as 12625225. The Library of Congress control number is n86845611. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922, 1995, 1937 and 1939.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Rafayel Ishkhanian”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Rafayel Ishkhanian primary sources, Rafayel Ishkhanian archive and Rafayel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rafayel Ishkhanian”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Rafayel Ishkhanian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.