Ghazar Parpetsi

Ghazar Parpetsi
Monument to Ghazar Parpetsi in Parpi
Born	circa 442 Parpi (a village near Ashtarak, Armenia)
Died	Early sixth century Parpi1
Occupation	Historian, Chronicler
Known for	History of the Armenians, Letter to Vahan Mamikonian
Notes
1It also has been suggested that he was buried at the St. Apostles monastery in Mush.

Ghazar Parpetsi (Armenian: Ղազար Փարպեցի, Latin: Lazarus Pharpensis; Ghazar of Parpi, alternatively spelled as Lazar Parpetsi and Łazar Parpetsi; c. 442 – early 6th century) was a 5th to 6th century Armenian chronicler and historian. He had close ties with the powerful Mamikonian noble family and is most prominent for writing a history of Armenia, History of Armenia, sometime in the early sixth century.

Ghazar was born in the village of Parpi (near the town of Ashtarak in Armenia). Owing to the close ties he held with the Mamikonian family, following the defeat of the Armenians at the battle of Avarayr in 451, Ghazar moved to the Mamikonian Prince Ashusah's castle in Tsurtav (in Georgia), where he received his primary education. Studying under the auspices of Aghan Artstruni, he befriended Vahan Mamikonian; he was an excellent student and from 465 to 470 he attended school in Constantinople, learning new languages, studying religion, literature, and classical philosophy. Returning to Armenia, Ghazar busied himself with educational and spiritual activities in the town of Shirak, then part of the domains of the Kamsarakan family. From 484 to 486, he lived in Syunik until Vahan Mamikonian, who had been recently appointed the head of marzpan Armenia, invited him to oversee the reconstruction of a monastery being built in Vagharshapat. Vahan appointed Ghazar an abbot at the monastery, although the education that Ghazar had received as well as his educational and spiritual policies did not sit well with the more conservative elements of the church. Accusing him of heresy, he was forced out of the monastery in 490, taking up residence in the city of Amida in Byzantium.