One of the last great Armenians, the world famous scientist, essay writer, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Grigor Gurzadyan has passed away at the age of 92. Grigor Gurzadyan was one of the unique individuals who could be considered ahead of his time. He lived in the future, yet always remembered our history and our present. He was truly a man of the Renaissance because for him, the world wasn’t just a scientific object. Gurzadyan had his own perception of the world with philosophical explanations and would often draw pictures of how he saw the world…He was also a wonderful esthete and writer, and it wasn’t by chance that he was a member of the Union of Writers of Armenia. In the 1960s and 1970s, his unique essays shocked us and made us see the side of Gurzadyan that we hadn’t seen before-Gurzadyan the great writer and philosopher who penetrated deep into the works of Narekatsi…

Grigor Gurzadyan was born on October 22, 1922 in Baghdad. His parents reached the pearl of the Mediterranean after having survived the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Western Armenia. They had witnessed the horrors of the Great Catastrophe and really wanted to find a landmark, that is, the Armenia that they had been dreaming of. Grigor Gurzadyan turned his parents’ dream into a reality and came to Armenia. He saw the two Armenian Masis mountains, the country that was in misery and the people who were making efforts to live and create. Gurzadyan got accepted to Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, which is currently the State Engineering University of Armenia. The years of his study coincided with the difficult years of WWII, but that didn’t bring him down, and he realized that science was necessary in order to win the war. In 1944, he graduated from the Hydro-technology and Construction Faculties of Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute.

This was unique in that a student was provided with the opportunity to study in two faculties at the same time. Grigor Gurzadyan also had special skills…Victor Hambardzumyan noticed the talented young man, offered to work with him and went on to become his supervisor for his dissertation. In 1948, at the age of 26, Gurzadyan defended his thesis for candidacy on “Radial Balance of Interstellar Gas Substance” under Hambardzumyan’s supervision. Victor Hambardzumyan was charmed by Grigor Gurzadyan, praised his efforts and joined him and several other young scientists to create the world famous observatory in Byurakan. In the former Soviet Union, many were amazed at the young scientist, giving Gurzadyan the right to defend his doctoral dissertation at the age of only 33 in 1955. This was one of the special cases in Soviet and world science when only a 33-year old became a Doctor. Moreover, Gurzadyan was already the head of the Department for the Physics of Stars and Nebulae adjunct to the Observatory at the age of 28 and served as head of the Department until 1966. In 1967, Grigor Gurzadyan created the branch for space-related research adjunct to the Observatory and served as head of the branch until 1973. From 1973 to 1978, he was director of the astrological laboratory in Gyumri. He was called the dreamer in Garni because it was Gurzadyan who turned the village that had been forgotten by many into a center for scientific research and made it internationally recognized. In 1992, Gurzadyan established the institute for research on spatial astrology in Garni and led the institute until 2004. Gurzadyan is one of the creators of the branch of spatial astrology in world science. The prominent scientist studied the physics and dynamics of planet-shaped nebulae, worked on the theory of outbreak of stars based on non-thermal phenomena, developed the Orion and Orion-2 spatial systems that helped checked the short-wave spectrum lines of very weak stars. Gurzadyan developed the theory of emergence of two-layer nebulae, studied the significance of the magnetic field in the emergence of planet-shaped nebulae and developed the theory of outbreak of stars based on non-thermal phenomena within the stars. Gurzadyan also created scientific devices and optical systems. In the 1990s, he worked on the theory of general color spheres (round chromes) of double stars and the theory of evolution of accumulations of double, round stars. Gurzadyan introduced the principle of functioning of the optical system of Orion spatial observatory and the methodology of automated administration. Gurzadyan is one of the founders of spatial astrology. In the 1960s, he applied R-5 ballistic missiles and led the UV and X-ray observations of the Sun and the stars (the first flight started from Capustin-Yar base on February 15, 1961).

Later, Gurzadyan started drafting the spatial, orbiting observatories, of which the most famous are the Orions. In April 1971, the first Salute-1 space station raised Orion-1, which was the first telescope with an objective prism. But the peak was Orion-2, which functioned on Soyuz-13 spaceship in December 1973. Grigor Gurzadyan is the author of the most significant theories devoted to planet-shaped nebulae, interstellar substances and stars that break out. Overall, Gurzadyan has published more than 200 scientific articles and several monographs, including “Radioastrophysics” (1956, in Russian), “Planet-shaped Nebulae” (Nauka, 1962, in Russian and Gordon & Brich, 1970, in English), “Exploding Stars” (Nauka, 1973, in Russian and Pergamon, 1980, in English), “Stellar Color Spheres” (Nauka, 1984, in Russian), “Physics and Dynamics of Planet-Shaped Nebulae” (Nauka, 1988, in Russian and “Schpringer”, 1997, in English), “Theory of Interplanetary Leaps” (Gordon And Brich, 1996, in English) and “Dynamics in Space” (Francis And Taylor, 2002, in English). Gurzadyan has also created many paintings and has many literary works.

In one of his poems, Eduard Militonyan wrote the following:

“At this moment I am writing words about an Armenian

(Grigor Gurzadyan), who stays with the constellation,

No matter how many times the poppies of Aragats “call” him,

He still seeks lost planets and comets

With his invented optical device.

When he comes down from the top like a pastor and goes home,

He writes the words “Space Center” with his “brush”

In the area near the pagan temple of Garni.”

These and other words about the prominent scientist will live on because Gurzadyan he represents the Armenians and was one of the world’s greats that passed away and is now among the stars…

Heaven is in a celebration now…

Levon Mutafyan