Ph.D., professor, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, and honored figure of science of the ASSR
Jrbashyan was born on September 24, 1923, in Yerevan. In 1941, he graduated from secondary school No. 23 and left for military service. He participated in the Great Patriotic War, was seriously wounded, and lost his leg. After his military service, in 1950, he graduated from the Department of Armenian Language and Literature of the YSU Philology Faculty.
In 1954, Jrbashyan defended a candidate, and in 1965 - a doctoral thesis. In 1964, he became an associate professor, and in 1967 became a professor. In 1974, Jrbashyan was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, and in 1982 became an academician.
From 1950-1972, Jrbashyan lectured at the Chair of Armenian Literature (now Chair of Armenian Literature History after Academician Hrant Tamrazyan). From 1972-1985, Jrbashyan headed the newly created Chair of Literary Theory and Aesthetics (now Literary Theory and Literary Criticism). From 1966-1970, he was also the head of the literary theory department of the Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the ASSR Academy of Sciences, from 1977-1999: director of the same institute, and from 1953-1954 he worked as deputy editor-in-chief of "Literary newspaper", "Soviet literature" magazine, and from 1967-1977, Jrbashyan was the editor-in-chief of "Banber Yerevan University" magazine.
Jrbashyan is the author of more than two dozen monographs and hundreds of articles. He initiated and edited the "Tumanyan studies" series, the academic ten-volume set of Hovhannes Tumanyan's works, as well as editions of works by other Armenian classics. His role in the creation and publication of the multi-volume "History of New Armenian Literature" is great.
Among the most important works are "Poems of Tumanyan" (Yerevan, 1964, 1986), "Worldview and Mastery" (Yerevan, 1966), "Questions of Poetics" (Yerevan, 1976), "Four Peaks" (Yerevan, 1982). ), "Aesthetics and Literature" (Yerevan, 1986). He also authored the university textbook "Theory of Literature", which had 7 editions.
From 1978-1999, Jrbashyan was the Chairman of the Literature Council at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the Armenian Academy of Sciences.
Many candidate and doctoral theses were defended under his guidance.
In 1970, Jrbashyan became an Honored Scientist of the ASSR. In 1974 and 1980, he received the ASSR State Prize.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Red Star, and the Great Patriotic War I degree.
Jrbashyan passed away on August 10, 1999, in Yerevan.
His bronze bust is in the hall of the YSU Faculty of Armenian Philology.
A memorial column devoted to Jrbashyan has been erected around building No. 25/1 on Rustaveli Street, Yerevan.
