Armenologist-linguist, Ph.D., professor, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, and honored figure of ASSR science.
He was born on January 1, 1887, in Ashtarak. Ghamantsyan received his primary education in his birthplace, then went to St. Petersburg, entered a gymnasium, and after graduating, studied at the Department of Armenian-Georgian Philology of the Faculty of Oriental Languages of the local university.
In 1913, after graduating from university, Ghapantsyan returned to Armenia and devoted himself to Armenian studies. Until 1918, he taught Armenian studies at the Gevorgian Seminary in Etchmiadzin, and after the seminary was closed, he moved to Yerevan.
In May 1918, he participated in the heroic battle of Sardarapat.
In 1921, G. Ghapantsyan was invited to YSU, where he worked until the end of his life, holding the position of head of the general linguistics Chair for many years. At the university, he taught grammar, historical, and comparative grammar of Armenian, Urartian, and general linguistics and trained graduate students in these fields.
In 1932, G. Ghapantsyan received the title of professor, and in 1942, without dissertation defense, he became a Ph.D. In 1943, Ghapantsyan was approved as a founding member of the newly created Academy of Sciences of the ASSR and was elected academician-secretary of the Department of Social Sciences. In 1950-1955, Ghapantsyan headed Hr. Acharayan Language Institute of ASSR NAS.
The effective period of Ghapantsyan's scientific activity covers the 1930s-1950s, when his "Chetto Armeniaca" (Yerevan, 1931), "Common elements between the Urartian and Hittite languages" (Yerevan, 1936), "Hittite Gods among the Armenians" (Yerevan, 1940), "Historic-Linguistic Significance of Ancient Armenian Place Names" (Yerevan, 1940), "Worship of Ara the Handsome" (Yerevan, 1945) and many other works.
G. Ghapantsyan was also a famous historian and archaeologist. His linguistic research usually led to important historical conclusions, summarized in a number of weighty works. Among them are the monographs "The History of Urartu" (Yerevan, 1940), "The Cradle of Armenian Armenians" (Russian, Yerevan, 1948), "History of the Armenian Language (Old Period)" (Yerevan, 1961).
G. Ghapantsyan also dealt with issues of general linguistics, summarizing the results of those studies in the book "General Linguistics" (Yerevan, 1937, 1939).
In 1942, G. Ghapantsyan became an Honored Science Worker of the ASSR.
He passed away on May 3, 1956, in Yerevan.
Ghapantsyan’s bronze bust in the lobby of YSU's central building symbolizes the role of an outstanding scientist-pedagogue in the development of the university.
