 Hovhannes Imastaser was born around 1047 in the district of Gardman (village of Pib) of historical Armenia’s eastern province of Utik, which today is located in Azerbaijan, north of Nagorno Karabakh.The most extensive historical account of Hovhannes Imastaser’s life and work is in the 12-13th century Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi’s “History of Armenia.”  There also exists a 13th-century anonymous biography of Hovhannes Imastaser, which is attributed sometimes to Kirakos Gandzaketsi.Hovhannes received his education in theology and science in Haghbat and Sanahin, two important monastic centers of Armenian medieval scholarship.