Stepanos Nazarian was born in 1812 into the family of a priest who had moved to Tiflis (modern-day Tbilisi, Georgia, then in the Russian Empire) from Khoy in northwestern Iran.

[2] With the help of Abovian and the latter's mentor Friedrich Parrot, Nazarian entered the Dorpat gymnasia (in modern-day Tartu, Estonia) in 1833, becoming its first Armenian student.

The University of Dorpat served as entry point for German philosophy and Orientalism into Russia and was connected to contemporary programs for socio-economic reform.

Between 1858 and 1864 he published in Moscow the influential magazine Hyusisapayl (Aurora Borealis), that had a great effect on the development of progressive public thought in Armenia.

He criticized serfdom and clerical power for the spiritual revival of the Armenian people; however, he refused to classify his actions as part of a broader class struggle.