Birth of Vasili Korganov (February 3, 1865)

A self-taught musicologist, Vasili Korganov was the author of the first serious study of Beethoven in Russian and a well-recognized scholar who later moved to Armenia. 

He was born Barsegh Korganian on February 3, 1865, in Tiflis. He studied at School No. 1 (1875-1878) and at the Royal School (1878-1883). He later graduated from the Academy of Engineering in St. Petersburg (1883-1886). Despite his technical formation, however, he considered music his vocation and engaged in musical self-education with composer Cesar Cui, who also taught at the Academy of Engineering. 

After graduation, he served in the second battalion of sappers of the Caucasus until 1896. 

Meanwhile, Korganov had relocated to Tiflis in 1888, where he contributed to many publications in Russian. He met many times Peter Tchaikovsky, who often came to the Georgian capital to visit his brother. He also discovered the talent of Fyodor Chaliapin, the future opera singer, in 1892. In 1896, he married Ana Mantashev, the daughter of oil magnate Alexander Mantashev, and had three children. He was a member of the direction of the Tiflis chapter of the Russian Musical Society and a professor at its school of music. In 1900, he published what is considered his masterpiece, a thousand-page biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, which was reprinted in 1997. In 1900-1902, he founded and edited the respected literary journal Kavkazkiy Vestnik (Messenger of the Caucasus), which he sold when he moved to Europe. 

He traveled frequently through Europe in the 1890s, meeting important composers like Johannes Brahms, Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Giuseppe Verdi. After 1902, he lived abroad, particularly in Germany, and became a member of the International Society of Music. He participated in its congresses in 1904 and 1909. He studied the history of music, which he discussed in books in German and Russian.  

Korganov settled in Yerevan in 1925 and worked as head of department of the Armenian Publishing House, also taking part in the preparation of the first volume of the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. He became an adviser at the Yerevan Conservatory in 1926 and deputy director of the State Library of Armenia (1926-1930). In 1934, he was elected a member of the Institute of Sciences of Arts of Armenia and earned the title of Emeritus Artist. After his death, his valuable collection of manuscripts and ancient documents was donated to the Museum of Art and Literature Yeghishe Charents. 

Korganov also published monographs about Verdi (1897) and Mozart (1900), as well as a collection of articles entitled “Caucasian Music” (1908), among other books. His study “Tchaikovsky in the Caucasus” (1940) was published posthumously. 

He passed away on June 6, 1934, in Yerevan, and was buried at the Komitas Pantheon.