One Answer

  1. Aivazovsky is not the real name of the artist.

    His father, the ruined Armenian merchant Gevorg Ayvazyan, moved to Feodosia in the 18th century.

    Here he changed his first name to Konstantin, which is more familiar to the Russian ear, and his last name to Gaivazyan. His son, the world-famous artist Ivan(Hovhannes), was born in Russia.
    Later, when the artist became famous in Russia and not only the emperor himself commissioned his paintings, after many years of reflection in 1840, Ivan and his older brother Gabriel decided to change their last name to Aivazovsky. They thought that this way it would be more harmonious, and they began to write it in Russian Aivazovsky, and in Armenian-Ayvazyan.

    https://ru.armeniasputnik.am/culture/20170802/8151763/tajna-ajvazovskogo-pochemu-marinist-smenil-familiyu.html

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