Hovhannes Tumanyan

Biography

Vernatun members in 1903. Isahakyan, Aghayan, Tumanyan (sitting) and Shant, Demirchian (standing).

Tumanyan was born on February 19, 1869, in the village of Dsegh, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Lori Province, Armenia).

His father, Aslan (1839–1898), was the village priest known as Ter-Tadevos. He was an offspring of an Armenian princely family of Tumanyan, branch of the famous royal house of Mamikonian that settled in Lori in 10th and 11th centuries from their original feudal fief of Taron.

His mother, Sona (1842–1936), was an avid storyteller with a particular interest in fables. Young Tumanyan was the oldest of eight children; his siblings were Rostom (1871–1915), Osan (1874–1926), Iskuhi (1878–1943), Vahan (1881–1937), Astghik (1885–1953), Arshavir (1888–1921), Artashes (1892–1916).

From 1877 to 1879, Tumanyan attended the parochial school of Dsegh. From 1879 to 1883 he went to a school in Jalaloghly. Tumanyan moved to Tiflis in 1883, where he attended the Nersisyan School from 1883 to 1887.

Personal life In 1888, at the age of 19, Tumanyan married Olga Matchkalyan, age 17. They had 10 children: Musegh (1889–1938), Ashkhen (1891–1968), Nvard (1892–1957), Artavazd (1894–1918), Hamlik (1896–1937), Anush (1898–1927), Arpik (1899–1981), Areg (1900–1939), Seda (1905–1988), Tamar (1907–1989).

Political and public activism During the government-provoked Armenian–Tatar massacres of 1905–1906, Tumanyan took the role of a peacemaker, for which he was arrested twice.

In 1921 in Tiflis he founded the House of Armenian Art.

Literary work

Eduard Jrbashyan describes Tumanyan's language as "simple, natural and at the same time poetically inspired and beautiful." Many expressions from Tumanyan's works have become common phrases and sayings in Armenian.

Tumanyan's most famous works include:

Ballads and poems (The dog and the cat, 1886) (1887) (1890) (1891) (David of Sassoun, 1902) (The capture of Tmkaberd, 1902) (A drop of honey, 1909) (The end of evil, 1908) (The king and the peddler, 1917)

Short stories ""

Fairy tales (Nazar the Brave) (The kid goat) (Unlucky Panos)

Legacy

As Armenia's national poet, Tumanyan stands as a towering figure in Armenian literature and culture. In September 1969, the Soviet Armenian government of Anton Kochinyan and Badal Muradyan organized major celebrations marking the centenary of Tumanyan in Yerevan and Dsegh, with the assistance of Anastas Mikoyan. Both Mikoyan and Marshal Ivan Bagramyan personally attended the festivities. In the autumn of 2011, the government of Armenia purchased a flat in Tbilisi where Tumanyan resided and in 2017 opened it as a museum and cultural center. Tumanyan's works have been translated into numerous languages. Translators of his works into Russian include Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Joseph Brodsky, Samuil Marshak, and Bella Akhmadulina.

Places named after Tumanyan In Armenia Tumanyan Matchbox Label Museum Tumanyan City in Lori Province, which until 1951 was named Dzaghidzor. Pedagogical University of Vanadzor Armenian State Puppet Theater in Yerevan Tumanyan St. in central Yerevan Tumanyan Park in Yerevan's Ajapnyak district Tumanyan's native village of Dsegh was renamed Tumanyan in his honor in 1938, before being changed back to Dsegh in 1969.

Outside Armenia Tumanyan Square (Площадь Туманяна) – in Northern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. Tumanyan Streets in Kyiv, Tbilisi (sign), Donetsk, Sochi, khutor Shaumyanovsky in Rostov Oblast.

In popular culture

Opera Anoush (1912) by Armen Tigranian, based on the narrative poem Anush (1902) Almast (1930) by Alexander Spendiaryan, based on the narrative poem (The capture of Tmkabert, 1902) Gikor by A. Martirosyan; silent (1934) The Master and the Servant by D. Keosayan; Armenfilm (1962) Akhtamar by E. Martirosyan; Armenfilm (1969) Honor of the Poor by B. Hovhannisyan, A. Samvelyan; Armenfilm (1969) The Fat King by D. Keosayan; Armenfilm (1969) The Lying Hunter by Aramayis Sargsyan; Armenfilm (1969) Since the Time of Hunger by E. Martirosyan; Armenfilm (1974) Gikor by S. Israeilyan; Armenfilm (1982) A Drop of Honey by Henrik Malyan; in Russian; Armenfilm (1982)

Animated films Cartoons based on works of Tumanyan: A Drop of Honey by V. Podpomogov (1968) Parvana by V. Podpomogov (1968) Hunter the Liar by E. Badalyan (1969) The Unlucky Panos by S. Galstuyan (1980) The Death of Kikos by Robert Sahakyants (1979) Wow, a Talking Fish! by Robert Sahakyants (1983) Nazar the Brave by Robert Sahakyants (1986)

Postage stamps, banknotes and coins

Collections in Armenian The Complete Works, Vol I-X, Yerevan, 1988-1999

Editions in English

(1950) (1961) (1970) (1971) (1997) (2019) (2019)