Hovhannes Hovhannisian

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (;Efn|Traditional Armenian orthography: . In Russian, he is known as . into a tailor's family in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), then within the Erivan Governorate of the Russian Empire. He attended parochial school in his hometown, then the progymnasium in Yerevan before studying in Moscow at the Lazaryan Language Institute (1877–83) and the historical-philological faculty of the Imperial Moscow University (1884–88).

In 1889, he traveled around Europe and visited various cities, including Constantinople, London, Paris and Vienna. Hovhannisyan returned to Vagharshapat and began his teaching career at the Gevorkian Seminary, where he taught Russian language and literature, general literature, and Greek. He taught there until 1912.

In 1912, Hovhannisyan briefly worked in Baku. He was a supporter of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the creation of the Soviet Union. In 1918, during the days of the revolutionary Baku Commune, he served in its department of education. He headed the branch of the People's Commissariat for Education in the district of Vagharshapat. In 1922, he worked in legislative committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Hovhannisyan died in 1929 in Yerevan, aged 65.

The subjects of Hovhannisyan's poetry include love and nature, as well as tragedy and the hard life of Armenia's peasantry. His love poems, such as "" (It's no use, my soul, it's no use, my angel) and "" (I would like to be a babbling stream) emphasize the connection between man and nature. According to Asmarian, Hovhannisyan was the first Armenian poet to realistically depict the "inner contradictions of village life." In some of his poems he drew from elements of folk poetry. His patriotic poetry was first in the tradition of Romanticism, then shifted to realism. He encouraged Armenians not to give in to despair, despite their difficult situation.