Image: Ter-Astvatatryan at a reception for the Armenian delegation, Kremlin, January 1936.
Hovsep Ter-Astvatsatryan was born on April 19, 1886, in the city of Shushi, in the Elizavetpol province. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Road Engineers. From 1922 to 1925, he served as the manager and chief engineer for the construction of the Shirak Irrigation Canal and the Leninakan HPP.
In 1927, Ter-Astvatsatryan became the chief engineer for the construction of the Dzora hydroelectric power plant, later serving as its chief. Under his leadership, the first pressure tunnel in the USSR, with a diameter of 3.2 meters and a length of 2.5 kilometers, was constructed. Additionally, he pioneered the use of a tensometric acoustic device to measure rock pressure on tunnel linings – a world first. His innovative design of an automatic self-rolling cylindrical valve was also used for the first time in the project.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin for the successful completion of the Dzora hydroelectric power plant. He also was one of the key figures in Marieta Shaginyan’s novel Hydrocentral.
Ter- Astvatsatryan supervised the preparatory work for the projects of the Sevan-Hrazdan cascade of hydroelectric power plants and the construction of the Sevan and Gyumush hydroelectric plants. In 1931, under his leadership, a project was developed to harness the waters of Lake Sevan. This scheme aimed to irrigate over 140,000 hectares of dry land and generate 2.5 billion kWh of electricity.
Ter-Astvatsatryan also organized and led the Scientific Research Institute of Structures (now the Institute of Construction and Architecture), and later the Hydroelectric Project Institutes (now Hydroproject). He is considered one of the founders of the School of Hydraulic Engineering and Hydropower Engineering in Armenia.
He was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor.
However, despite his exceptional merits and scientific and technical achievements, Hovsep Ter-Astvatsatryan was unable to escape the Great Purge. He was arrested in June 1937, falsely accused of "sabotage", and executed on July 19, 1938.
Only after Stalin's death was Hovsep Ter-Astvatsatryan posthumously rehabilitated in 1954. In 1966, the Kanaker hydroelectric power plant was named in his honor, and a monument to him was erected on its grounds.
Source: ECTI
Image: Ter-Astvatatryan at a reception for the Armenian delegation, Kremlin, January 1936.