Елизаветпольская губерния
Hovsep Arghutian was born in Sanahin, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire in an aristocratic family. His family was descended from the Armenian noble family Argutinsky-Dolgorukov. Arghutian graduated from the Nersisian School in Tiflis and was a school teacher in the village of Jalaloghly (now Stepanavan, Armenia).