In the history of technology, Alexander Tamanian is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Alexander Tamanian as Armenian architect (1878–1936).
Alexander Tamanian was born at Krasnodar in 1878. His recorded nationality is the Russian Empire. He was educated at Higher Art School at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, national institutions, mass media and mass politics changed both the scale of a career and its risks.
He worked as architect, restorer and urban planner.
His name is attached above all to work in the city of Yerevan. Technology is judged by adoption: an invention nobody uses is a curiosity.
The surviving body of work includes Yerevan Opera Theater.
His recorded fields of work are architecture.
His work was formally recognised with the Stalin Prize, 2nd degree and Armenian SSR State Prize.
That the work was done from the Russian Empire matters. Opportunity has never been evenly distributed, and where a person is based shapes which doors open and whose work gets seen.
Alexander Tamanian died in 1936, aged 58. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Notable work: Yerevan Opera Theater
- Educated at Higher Art School at the Imperial Academy of Arts
- Worked as architect, restorer and urban planner
