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Koriun (Old Armenian:Կորիւն;[a] also transliterated asKoriwn,Koryun,Coriun) was a fifth-century Armenian author and translator. He was the youngest student ofMesrop Mashtots, the inventor of theArmenian alphabet. His sole known work is theLife of Mashtots (Vark’ Mashtots’i), a biography of his teacher, which is the earliest known original work written in Armenian. The work gives information about Mashtots's invention of the Armenian alphabet, his preaching activities, and the efforts to translate the Bible and other Christian texts into Armenia, in which Koriun personally participated.
The dates of Koriun's birth and death are not precisely known. It is assumed that he was born around 380[1] or 390[2] and died in 447[2] orc. 450.[1] The nameKoriun means 'lion's cub'[3] (or the cub of any wild animal) in Armenian.[4] Abraham Terian writes that the name suggests that Koriun was born in the eastern part of Armenia rather than the western, Roman-controlled part; or else his name would be the Greek-derived equivalentŁewond (Leontios).[3] Some Armenian and European scholars, such as Ghevont Alishan, Hovhannes Torosian, Garnik Fndklian, Arakel Sarukhan, Galust Ter-Mkrtchian, Simon Weber and others, have speculated that Koriun could have been Iberian-Armenian orIberian (Georgian).[5] This is chiefly based on a passage in which Koriun appears to state that he was one of the Georgian youths brought to study under Mashtots and that he was subsequently made a bishop at the Iberian royal court.[6][b] However,Manuk Abeghian, following Norayr Byuzandatsi's correction, argues that this is a misunderstanding caused by a textual corruption.[7] Concurring with Abeghian, Abraham Terian adds that "Koriwn’s Armenian identity is absolutely clear, declared in his opening line and seen in his sustained enthusiasm throughout the book".[3]
Koriun was one of the disciples assembled inVagharshapat in 406 to be trained as preachers of the Bible in Armenian after the creation of the Armenian alphabet byMesrop Mashtots.[1] He writes of himself that he was the youngest[c] among Mashtots's pupils. Koriun and the other disciples were sent as teachers to various parts of Armenia.[10] In 429,[11] Koriun went toConstantinople with another student, Lewondes, joining another group of Armenians includingEznik of Kolb[d] who were there to master the Greek language.[2] They returned to Armenia after 431, bringing with them Greek manuscripts for the revision of the Armenian translation of the Bible, as well as the canons of the ecumenical councils ofNicaea (325) andEphesus (431). While it is known that Koriun participated in the translation of Christian texts (the books of the Bible,patristics, and the canons of the ecumenical councils) into Armenian, he gives no specific information about his contributions to the translation movement. He must have been a well-regarded student of Mashtots, since he was encouraged to write the biography of his late teacher by Mashtots's other pupils, including Yovsep Holotsmetsi, thelocum tenens of the Catholicos (head of the Armenian Church).[11]
Koriun'sLife of Mashtots (Vark’ Mashtots’i) is the earliest known original work written in Armenian.[2] Koriun began work on theLife sometime after Mashtots's death in 440. It must have been completed in or after 443 and before 451. In Terian's view, the work was probably composed in 443 for the occasion of the third anniversary of Mashtots's death. Thus, it was composed as anencomium initially intended to be read out loud. While the work contains important historical information, it was not intended as a work of history and leaves out key events that would have been known by the immediate audience.[14] It is the primary source for the beginning of Armenian literary activity and its chief figures.[15] It was highly influential upon subsequent Armenian authors and was borrowed from heavily.[16]
Koriwn'sLife of Mashtots has been published multiple times since 1833 and has been translated into German, French, English, Russian,[17] Italian,[18] and Georgian.[19] In the seventeenth century,Voskan Yerevantsi translated the short version of Koriun'sLife into Latin, which remains in manuscript form.[20] Several other works are also attributed to Koriun, but these cannot be verified as his. He is also credited with translating theBook of Maccabees into Armenian.[17]
The longer version of Koriun'sLife of Mashtots is preserved in a single manuscript dated to the late seventeenth century. Two shorter versions of theLife are dated to the middle of the fourteenth century and are kept in theMatenadaran (M 3787 and M 3797). The oldest manuscript of theLife is in Paris'sBibliothèque nationale (Arm. 178), a manuscript from the twelfth century.[21]
