Arus Voskanyan

Arus Tigranovna Voskanyan (born Arusyak Darbasyan; Armenian: Արուս Տիգրանի Ոսկանյան; 28 April, 1889 – 20 July, 1943) was an Ottoman Armenian actress.

Early life Voskanyan was born in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), where she also spent her childhood.

Voskanyan was exposed to theatre from a young age through her grandmother's sister, Epros Kyumrukchyan, and her aunt, Ripsime, both actresses.

Name Voskanyan's given name in also recorded in English-language as Arous. Her married name is sometimes recorded as Voskanian.

Early career Voskanyan began her professional life as a teacher at the orphanage of the Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital.

Not long after, she was encouraged to pursue her interest in acting by her brother's friend, Vahram Papazian. Voskanyan took Hrachia's lessons seriously, and used them throughout her career.

Voskanyan performed with Abelian's group in Baku, as well as Central Asia and Iran, until 1916, when she joined the Armenian Dramatic Society.

Voskanyan developed a reputation for playing femme fatales in operettas, classical plays, and melodramas. Ruben Zaryan later wrote that Voskanyan performed almost every night during the conflict. He believed she did so to improve her audience's wartime morale, approaching her work with "patriotic fervor."

Personal life

Family Voskanyan had one child with her husband Hosvep, a daughter named Siranush. Evgenia's daughter (and Voskanyan's granddaughter), Maya Margaryan, is a singer. He dedicated unpublished works to her, On one occasion, Voskanyan was walking home with her friend Nikolay Nikoghosyan when a drunken Charents approached them, insulting Voskanyan until writer Axel Bakunts intervened. Describing her last visit to him, Voskanyan wrote: "He looked fragile but noble. He took some morphine and then read some Komitas. When I reached over to kiss his hand he was startled."

Selected roles

Voskanyan performed in over 200 roles. Her most acclaimed included:

Amalia in The Robbers by Friedrich Schiller Anna in Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill Anush in Baghdasar Aghpar by Hagop Baronian Kruchinina in Innocent Sinners by Alexander Ostrovsky Margarita in For the Sake of Honour by Alexander Shirvanzade Nora in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Ophelia in Hamlet by William Shakespeare Parandzem in Native Country by Derenik Demirchian Salome in the one-act tragedy of the same name by Oscar Wilde

Voskanyan also originated several roles from the works of Shakespeare on the modern Armenian stage, including Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), and Portia (The Merchant of Venice).