Hovhannes Mrkuz Jughayetsi

Hovhannes was born in 1643 in New Julfa, an Armenian suburb located on the outskirts of Isfahan, the Safavid capital of Iran.

At the start of the 17th century, hundreds of Armenian families were forced to relocate to New Julfa by Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).

[1] One of his pupils was the Iranian scholar Hazin Lahiji, whom he taught about the New Testament and some aspects of Christian theology.

[1] Hovhannes was one of the monks that Shah Soltan Hoseyn (r. 1694–1722) spoke with about religion and theology during the latter's visit to the Vank Cathedral in New Julfa.

His book Kitab-i Avanus khalifa-yi masihi (The book of the Christian Hovhannes Khalifa) is among those that still exist in bilingual manuscripts, with Armenian on the right folios and Persian or Arabic on the left folios, but others, like his Usul-i din-i isavi u furu-i an (The principles of the Christian faith and its practical aspects), seem to have only been published in Persian.