Orientalist, pedagogue, translator
Asatur was born on July 19, 1868, in Tbilisi. He graduated from Nersisian School in Tbilisi and received higher education at the institutes of oriental languages and archeology of St. Petersburg. Since 1884, G. Asatur worked first in Tbilisi, then in Petersburg, in the central department of the bank, and then in Armenian schools as a teacher and superintendent. He started composing from an early age. The first poem was published in "Aghbyur" magazine in 1887. In addition to "Aghbyur" and "Taraz" periodicals, he also carried out creative work in "Murch" and "Ethnological Magazine" periodicals. After the Soviet order was established, G. Asatur came to Armenia and started scientific-pedagogical and translation activities. In 1921, he was invited to YSU and taught Georgian and Persian languages, as well as Middle East and Transcaucasian literature history courses at the Faculty of History for ten years.
G. Asatur's works include "Hayavand", "Samples from Georgian Poetry", "Lost Tbilisi" in prose, as well as "Legends of the East" in verse. He was one of the best connoisseurs of Sayat-Nova's literary heritage and has great merit in the field of elucidating the poet's works, discovering unknown songs, and solving many biographical and textological problems. G. Asatur is also known as a translator. He translated Shota Rustaveli's "The Knight in the Panther's Skin " from the old Georgian. He also translated Firdusu's poem "Rostam and Sohrab" from Persian.
Asatur passed away on October 7, 1937, in Tbilisi.
