Arsen Derderian [Terteryan, Soviet spelling] was a prolific literary scholar who dominated the field of Armenian literature in Soviet Armenia until the mid-twentieth century.

He was born on December 22, 1882, in the village of Shosh, near Shushi (Artsakh). He studied at the Seminary of Shushi (1892-1902) and then graduated from the Gevorgian Lyceum of Holy Echmiadzin in 1905. He taught for two years at the Seminary of Shushi and in 1907-1909 he studied at the Psycho-Neurological Institute of St. Petersburg. Afterwards, he shifted to literature and taught history and theory of literature at the Diocesan School of Yerevan in 1909-1920.