Tserents (Armenian:, born Hovsep Shishmanyan, Armenian:, Constantinople, September 16 (28), 1822 - Tiflis, February 1 (13), 1888) was a prominent Armenian writer. Tserents studied at Venice, at the San Lazzaro degli Armeni of the Mekhitarist Order between 1831-1837 and continued his education in Paris (1848-1853). He returned to Constantinople in 1853 and lived for several years in Cyprus, working as a teacher and a scientist. He moved to Tiflis in 1878, and worked as a teacher in the Nersisyan Armenian gymnasium. Together with Raffi, Tserents was the founder of the Armenian historical novel.