Ghevont Alishan

The Reverend Ghevont Alishan
200px Portrait of Alishan from his 1901 book Hayapatum (Հայապատում, "Armenian History")
Church	Catholic Church
Personal details
Born	(1820-07-06)July 6, 1820 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	Venice, Kingdom of Italy
Nationality	Armenian
Denomination	Armenian Catholic
Residence	San Lazzaro degli Armeni

Ghevont Alishan (Armenian: Հայր Ղեւոնդ Ալիշան) (1820-1901; also spelled Ghevond Alishan, or Leonzio Alishan in Italian or Léonce Alichan in French) was an ordained Armenian Catholic priest, historian and a poet. He was awarded by the Legion of Honour of the French Academy (1866), an honorary member of the Asian Society of Italia, Archeological Society of Moscow, Venice Academy and Archeological Society of Saint-Petersburg.

John Ruskin wrote that he "always looked upon him Padre Alishan as a sort of saint; he has been our friend for a great many of years."

He was a member of the Mekhitarist Congregation on Saint Lazarus Island in Venice beginning in 1838. He was the director of the Armenian College in Paris in 1859-1861.

In 1885 he created the first modern Armenian flag. His first design was a horizontal tricolor, but with a set of colors different from those used on the Armenian flag of today. The top band would be red to symbolize the first Sunday of Easter (called "Red" Sunday), the green to represent the "Green" Sunday of Easter, and finally an arbitrary color, white, was chosen to complete the combination. While in France, Alishan also designed a second flag inspired by the national Flag of France. Its colors were red, green, and blue respectively, representing the band of colors that Noah saw after landing on Mount Ararat.

A bust of Alishan, created in 1903 by the sculptor Andreas Ter-Marukian, is displayed in the National Gallery of Armenia.

Gallery

• 

  Father Ghevont Alishan in his last days.

• National Gallery of Armenia - 2018-05-15 - Andy Mabbett - 01.jpg

  Bust by Andreas Ter-Marukian.

Publications

• Armenian popular Songs: translated into English by the R. Leo M. Alishan DD. of the Mechitaristic Society, Venice, S. Lazarus, 1852.
• Etude de la patrie: physiographie de l'Arménie: discours prononcé le 12 août 1861 à la distribution annuelle des prix au collège arménien Samuel Moorat, Venise, S. Lazar, 1861.
• «Յուշիկք հայրենեաց հայոց» (Memories of the Armenian Homeland) 1869.
• «Շնորհալի եւ պարագայ իւր» ('Shnorhali ew paragay iwr', Armenian History). 1873, Venice.
• «Շիրակ» (Shirak) 1881.
• Deux descriptions arméniennes des lieux Saints de Palestine, Gènes, 1883.
• «Սիսուան» (Sisouan) 1885.
• «Այրարատ» (Ayrarat) 1890.
• «Սիսական» (Sisakan) 1893.
• «Հայապատում» ('Hayapatum', Armenian History). 1901, Venice.

See also

• Leonardo Alishan

References

• Armenology Research National Center: THE ARMENIAN BOOK 1512-1920
• Jennifer Manoukian, "Ghevont Alishan," Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe: https://ernie.uva.nl/viewer.p/21/56/object/131-515195

External links

• Armenia at Flags of the World
• The Evolution of the Armenian Flag