Armenians

Categories / Population/Ethnic Groups
ARMENIANS, an ethnic community forming a part of the St. Petersburg population. The Armenian language belongs to the Armenian group of Indo-European language family. Believers are mainly Christians (Monofisits). Armenian merchants and craftspeople have settled in St. Petersburg since the beginning of the 18th century (in 1710 there were 40-50 people). In the 18th -19th centuries in St. Petersburg Armenian soldiers, officials, intellectuals (doctors, teachers) and representatives of Armenian aristocracy – the Lazarevs, Abamelik-Lazarevs, Loris-Melikovs, Delyanovs lived. The Armenian Church became the spiritual centre of the community. Since the end of the 18th century the Armenians were buried on a special lot of the Smolenskoe Cemetery. In 1797 the Holy Resurrection Church (29 Smolenka River Embankment, closed in 1931, services restarted in 1988) was consecrated on this area. In 1896 an alms-house was also opened. In the 18th - beginning of the 20th centuries the Armenian community numbered several hundreds of people, its rapid growth started after October 1917 (in 1959 - 4,900 people, in 1989 - 12,100 people). Since 1975, the Armenian Society of St. Petersburg has been functioning (registered in 1988), aimed at the preservation of Armenian language and culture. Since 1993, the newspaper Avatamk (We believe) has been published. In 2001, Armenian national and cultural autonomy was registered in St. Petersburg.

References: Бредникова О., Чикадзе Е. Армяне Санкт-Петербурга: карьеры этничности // Конструирование этничности: Этнич. общины С.-Петербурга. СПб., 1998. С. 227-259; Орлов В. Армянская церковь в Петербурге // Многонациональный Петербург: История. Религия. Народы. СПб., 2002. p. 226-233.

A. Y. Chistyakov the Abamelik-Lazarevs
the Delyanovs
the Lazarevs
the Loris-Melikovs
Smolenka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 29
Бредникова О., Чикадзе Е. Армяне Санкт-Петербурга: карьеры этничности // Конструирование этничности: Этнич. общины С.-Петербурга. СПб., 1998
Орлов К. В. Армянская церковь в Петербурге // Многонациональный Петербург: История. Религия. Народы. СПб., 2002 Merchants
Handicraft (overview)
Civil Servants
Military Personnel
Intelligentsia
St. Catherine’s Armenian Church