Linguist, Ph.D., professor, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, and honored figure of science of the ASSR
Aghayan was born on March 16, 1913, in Meghri. In 1928, he graduated from the local 7-year school. From 1930-1932, Aghayan worked in the Meghri collective farm first as a bookkeeper, then as an accountant. From 1933, he studied at YSU's Faculty of History, while simultaneously working as an accountant in a tobacco factory.
In 1938, Ed. Aghayan graduated from the university and in 1939 continued in postgraduate studies. In 1941, Aghayan defended a candidate, and in 1945, a doctoral thesis. In 1942, he became associate professor, and then professor. In 1953, Aghayan was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, and in 1982 - an academician. He worked at YSU from 1932 until the end of his life. From 1956-1985, Aghayan was the General Linguistics Chair of the university, from 1968-1991: head of the Armenian Studies Center, from 1986-1991: editor-in-chief of "Banber Yerevan University" magazine, from 1953-1956: vice-rector for scientific affairs of YSU, and from 1948-1950- Dean of the Faculty of Philology.
Ed. Aghayan also worked for decades as the head of the Acharyan Language Institute of AS OF ASSR. From 1950-1953, he was a deputy director, and from 1963-1991 - head of the department of general and comparative linguistics, then, in 1947-1948, - head of the department of Universities of the Ministry of Enlightenment of the ASSR.
Ed. Aghayan left a rich scientific heritage in general linguistics, history of Armenian linguistics, history of Armenian language and comparative grammar, dialectology, modern Armenian language, history of Eastern literature, and other issues. Particularly significant works are "Introduction to Linguistics" (Yerevan, 1952, 1963, 1967, which was guaranteed by the Ministry of Higher Education of the USSR as an all-Union university textbook and published in Russian in 1959), "The historical-comparative Method in Linguistics" (Yerevan, 1957), "Grabar Grammar", Vol. 1 (Yerevan, 1964), "Conjugation of Modern Armenian" (Yerevan, 1967), "General and Comparative Lexicology" (Yerevan, 1984). The latter was revised and published under the title "Fundamentals of Linguistics" in 1987.
Ed. Aghayan also made a great contribution to the field of Armenian lexicography. The two-volume book "Explanatory Dictionary of Modern Armenian" (Yerevan, 1976) with its inclusion of the Armenian vocabulary (136 thousand words and 11 thousand phrases) and multi-semantic classifications and clarifications of the phrases remains an exceptional lexicographical achievement.
He is the co-author of the Armenian language textbooks of the 4th-7th grades of the public school, which have had many editions. Aghayan’s work also covers filling in unfinished parts and preparing the publication his teacher Hr. Acharyan's multi-volume works.
Ed. Aghayan has participated in numerous international conferences (Yerevan, Moscow, USA, India, etc.).
Many candidate and doctoral theses were defended under his guidance.
From 1979 until the end of his life, he was the Chair of the Council for awarding scientific degrees in linguistics. In 1953, he was elected to the Yerevan City Council, and in 1980, 1985, a deputy of the Supreme Council of the ASSR.
In 1970, Ed. Aghayan became an honored figure of ASSR science.
He was also awarded the Order of the Labor Red Banner (1983), "Labor Courage" (1945), and a medal after Kh. Abovyan, etc.
Passed away on December 29, 1991, in Yerevan.
The bronze bust of E. Aghayan in the lobby of YSU's central building symbolizes the role of an outstanding scientist-pedagogue in the development of university science.
Since 2004, the secondary school of Karchevan village has been named after him.
