Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian
| Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 October 1878 Adana, Ottoman Empire |
| Died |
22 May 1973 (aged 94) Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation | Author, writer, linguist, chemist |
Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian (20 October 1878, in Adana, Ottoman Empire − 22 May 1973, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States) was a published scientist, as well as the father of American composer Alan Hovhaness. A professor of chemistry at Tufts University, Chakmakjian wrote numerous books in several languages. His notable publications included an English-Armenian dictionary which is believed to be the first of its kind in the modern Armenian language. The dictionary has become an enduring work of Armenian lexicography and remains regularly used today. His other publications included a 700-page history of Armenia.
Chakmakjian was of Armenian background and was born in Adana, Ottoman Empire on 20 October 1878. His surname means "gunsmith", a name given to one of his ancestors who had been skilled in creating finely engraved and decorated firearms. Born in 1878, his parents were Hovanes L. Chakmakjian and Cohar Garabed Janbazian, both farmers. He studied at the Abcarian (Apcarian) High School in Adana, then studied for just over one year at the Antoura French Missionary College in Beirut.
Chakmakjian began his career as a teacher and taught in Gesaria (Kayseri today) and in Giresun. He taught in Beirut in the early years of the 20th century, during the time of one of the early Ottoman massacres of Armenians. Rather than return to his birthplace of Adana, he decided to take a ship to France. He subsequently moved to Stamford, Connecticut and eventually settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied at Harvard University from fall 1905 to spring 1908, then entered Harvard again in February 1912, obtaining an A.B. degree in June 1913 (as a member of the class of 1909).
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