Rafael Ishkhanyan

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

 Biography 
In 1939, Ishkhanyan entered the department of Armenian language and literature of Yerevan State University. He fought in World War II. After the war, he continued his studies and graduated from Yerevan University in 1949.

His works are generally dedicated to the earliest history of the Armenian people, to the comparative linguistic analysis of ancient languages, and to printing. He is one of the authors of Armenian Soviet encyclopedia.

He was a Deputy to the Supreme Soviet Armenia in 1990-1996.

Publications
Ishkhanyan claims that Armenians "were the aborigines of the Armenian plateau who have been living there continuously since the fourth millennium B.C.E at the latest".Stephan H. Astourian, "In Search of Their Forefathers: National Identity and the Historiography and Politics of Armenian and Azerbaijani Ethnogeneses," in Nationalism and History: The Politics of Nation building in Post-Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. p. 47. Similar claims were promoted in nationalist novels such as those of Sero Khanzatian, published in the 1970s.Fowkes, Disintegration of the Soviet Union, p. 116.

 Books 
Errord Uzhi Batsarman Orenke: Hodvatsner, Azat khosk,  (5-8079-0250-5)
Girke Khorhrdayin Hayastanum: Matenagitakan Tsank, Hayastani azgayin grapalat,  (99930-50-03-2)
Mer Inknutyan Glkhavor Nshane: (Grakanagitakan Hetazotutyunner), Nairi,  (5-550-00429-1)
Patkerazard Patmutyun Hayots, Book 1, 1989, Arevik,  (5-8077-0057-0)
Rafael Ishkhanian, Hayeri tzagume yev hnaguin patmutiune (The Origins and Most Ancient. History of the Armenians) (Beirut: Altapress 1984))
Questions of origin and earliest history of Armenian people, Yerevan 1988
On the Origin and Earliest History of the Armenian People
Ksiazka Ormianska W Latach 1512 - 1920, Ossolineum

 References 

 Other websites 
Books of Ishkhanyan

Category:1922 births
Category:1996 deaths
Category:Armenian historians