The paper is based on autobiographic narrative by M. Saryan, a well-known Armenian artist and a native of Nor-Nakhichevan (currently Proletarsky district of Rostov-on-Don), analyzed in order to reproduce the circumstances of his education received while living in an expatriate community. Specifics of educational process in multiethnic classes of Nor-Nakhichevan four-year municipal school (1879-1885) and the context of professional education at the Moscow School of Arts are discussed as the circumstances, which determined further path of the artist\\\'s spiritual quest and professional self-fulfilment. Complicated relations with teachers are exposed as the cause of persistent dislike for some subjects including geography and history. Saryan\\\'s pictures created during various periods of his work are employed as evidence proving that lack of firm geographical knowledge resulted in a number of evident errors in the depiction of geographic objects and natural imagery. A conclusion is drawn that hypercritical, unfair treatment by a teacher erodes a pupil\\\'s interest not only in the respective subject but also in the culture represented by such mentor.

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