Vakhtang Ananyan

Vakhtang Stepani Ananyan (; 26 July 1905 – 4 March 1980) was an Armenian writer and journalist. He wrote many works about hunting and Armenia's natural world.

Biography Ananyan was born in the village of Poghoskilisa, near Dilijan (now within the city limits). He studied at Dilijan's parish school. In 1926, he moved to Yerevan, where he worked for the newspapers (Ploughman, 1930–31) and (Socialist agriculture, 1931–1935). His first work was published in the journal in 1927. In 1935, he was the editor of the newspaper . He fought in World War II and continued his journalistic and literary activities after the war.

His first novel (In the ring of fire) was published in 1930. Ananyan is known for his hunting stories and his realistic descriptions of Armenia's natural world. Eight volumes of Ananyan's hunting stories were published in 1947–77 under the title (Hunting stories). Among his well-known works are the book (Hunt, 1934) and the novella (On the banks of Sevan, 1951). His work (Animals of Armenia, 5 volumes, 1961–75) gives information about the animals that live or once lived in Armenia. His works have been translated into more than two dozen languages, including Russian, English, Chinese, Japanese, German, Czech, Bulgarian, Bengali, and Hindi. His books and (Prisoners of Hovazadzor, 1936) were adapted into the films (Secret of the mountain lake, 1954) and (1957), respectively. In 1970, he was awarded the State Prize of the Armenian SSR for his works written for children and youths. He died in 1980 in Yerevan. A high school in Dilijan is named after him.