Tsuveeg

In Armenian the name Tzuveeg is not a popular appellation for a woman.  In fact, according to the renowned linguist H. Adjarian's "Dictionary of Armenian Personal Names," there is only one person with that name who lived in the fifth century and who is being remembered this year as a saintly woman.  Tsuveeg is considered to be the diminutive form of the Armenian word Tsoo, which means "egg".

Tsuveeg was the daughter of the Ardsroonee prince Vasag, who was also known as Vram.  This person was one of the important and powerful noblemen in Armenia, and his political activities at the end of the fourth century are well attested in the ancient historical works in Armenian.  Vasag Ardzroonee is especially known for his participation in the Vartanants movement in the mid-fifth.

Princess Tsuveeg's brother was the vartapet Aghan Ardsroonee, one of the younger pupils of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob, who dedicated his life to preaching and teaching.  Among his most renowned pupils was the vartapet Ghazar Parbetsee, a historian who flourished at the end of the fifth century and wrote an authoritative history that covers both the Vartanants and the subsequent Vahanian movements in defense of the Christian faith.

In Ghazar Parbetsee's "History," among other historical details, there is important information about Princess Tsuveeg.  From this primary source we learn that Tsuveeg had a sister named Anooshvram who was married to the Prince Ashoosha, the margrave of the northern province of Kookark.  This man was the colleague and ally of St. Vartan Mamigonian.  Tzuveeg herself was the wife of St. Vartan's martyred brother Humayeag.  Vahan Mamigonian, who later became the commander-in-chief and then governor of Persian Armenia, was their eldest son.

Ghazar Parbetsee describes Vahan Mamigonian's mother Princess Tsuveeg in the following words:

The children of those who are martyred with Saint Vartan -- some of whom were of the same Mamigonian family, and others of the Gamsaragan or other families -- were still in a tender age and in need of care and upbringing.  As for the wives of those who were martyred or held captive in the [Persian] court, even though they were under stress, they did not live a carefree life like useless women.  Like brave men they brought up their children and with great care they motivated them towards education planned for them.  In particular the wife of Saint Vartan's brother, the martyr Humayeak, became renowned [in this matter] and surpassed all the women in Armenia with her excellent intellectual merits.  She nourished and brought up her children in Georgia, in the household of Ashoosha, margrave of the Georgians.  Prince Ashoosha had requested that Yazdagird the king of the Persians would give him these children as a reward, as I have recorded in the course of my narrative, and after rescuing them, he handed them over to their mother who was called Tsuveeg.  For Ashoosha, the margrave of the Georgians, had as wife Tusveeg's sister, whose name was Anooshvram.  There the children were nourished and educated; they stood out in all matters and became known to all.  While they were still young, they impressed all those who saw them as being successful and amazing.  The eldest among them was called Vahan, the second Vasag, the third Ardashes.  But they also had a younger brother named Vart, still a child who had remained with his nurses in Dayk.

In his youth Ghazar Parbetsi had enjoyed the motherly care and hospitality of Princess Tsuveeg.  On this matter he writes the following in his letter addressed to Vahan Mamigonian:

When your blessed mother brought you to the margrave, in whose palace we also were being raised, even though we were older than you, we were nourished with you and became your playmates… Your blessed mother and Anooshvram in their pious manner also nourished us as they nourished you.

After coming to age, Vahan, the son that the wonderful princess had nourished and educated, succeeded to force the Persian Empire to grant the right to freedom of religious and conscience to the Armenians in 484.  The wife of an Armenian prince martyred in the name of Christ had succeeded in laying the spark of faith and love of the homeland in the hearts of her children and foster children, thus becoming an example to all Armenian mothers after her.  Her son Vahan and her foster son Ghazar in their turn emerged as exceptional figures in the history of our people.  Like Tsuveeg they also served and will continue to serve as examples to the coming generations.