Ph.D., professor, and honored figure of science of the ASSR
Ter-Minasyan was born on November 19, 1879, in the village of Harich, Shirak Province, RA. He received his elementary education in the parish school of the village, from 1892-1900, he studied at the Gevorgian Seminary, from 1901–1904- at the Universities of Leipzig and Berlin. In 1904, Ter-Minasyan returned to his homeland and taught at Gevorgyan Seminary for four years. In 1910, he refused his Ecclesiastical title and until 1920, engaged in teaching in Yerevan, Alexandropol (now Gyumri), Vagharshapat, and Tbilisi.
In 1919, Ter-Minasyan participated in the foundation works of YSU, and since February 1920, he taught Armenian history at the newly established university.
From 1921 to 1922, Ter-Minasyan worked in Etchmiadzin as the scientific secretary of the Scientific Institute of Armenia, from 1943 to 1948 as the head of the chair of foreign languages at the Faculty of Philology of YSU, then the head of ancient and medieval literature department of M. Abeghyan Institute of Literature of ASSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1943, Ter-Minasyan became a Ph.D., and in 1945- a professor.
He authored more than 130 scientific works, which are devoted to the problems of ancient and medieval literature, archeology, the history of the Armenian Church, the origin and development of sects, Armenian-Assyrian literary relations, and other philological issues.
His merit in Armenian lexicography is great. Ter-Minasyan also co-authored the two-volume (Yerevan, 1933-1935) and four-volume (Yerevan, 1954-1958) "Russian-Armenian" dictionaries, as well as the four-volume "Explanatory Dictionary of the Modern Armenian Language" (Yerevan, 1969-1980).
In 1957, due to his hard work, the research manuscript of Yeghishe's book "History of Vardan and the Armenian War" was published.
In 1964, Ter-Minasyan became an honored figure of science of the ASSR.
He passed away on July 12, 1974, in Yerevan.
His bronze bust is placed in the lobby of the YSU central building.
