I lived from 1869-1923. I was from Armenia, and am in the Asian category.
Hovhannes Toumanian known as "Poet of all Armenians" was born in a spiritual family on 19th February 1869 in Dsegh of Lori province to Holy Father Ter-Tadevos. Lori province was also known as "the land of Gougars" as it was known for legends and fairytales and the beautiful mountainous region and its heroic past inspired Hovhannes in most of his works. He did not have much schooling but did his own education and was acknowledged as a well read person. He spent his childhood in his native village but moved to Tiflis where he studied in the Nersessian School, which is one of the best schools of Armenia but had to discontinue at the age of 16 due to the untimely death of his father.
Hovhannes was an avid reader and educated himself successfully without the aid of formal schooling. He loved the works of Shakespeare, Byron, Pushkin, and Lermontov. He was keenly interested in world folklore and his writing was influenced by this so that he was able to preserve integrity of the Armenian cultural history in his works. Although he started writing early in his life, some time in his 10 or 11 years of age he was known as a poet only by the year 1890 when his first book of poetry was published. His artistic endeavor to the Armenian literature was such that his time is known as the Toumanian phase.
At the age of 19 he got married and was the father of ten children. To support his family he had to work in places where his talent was wasted and felt like living in hell in those days. However some time in the mid 1890s he left his work to concentrate fully on his writing. He spent most of his life in Tiflis and traveled very little.
Although his life was not one of many excitements, he was very active in social arena and was the founder organizer of many associations and organizations such as "Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers" in the year 1912, Union of Countrymen's Associations, Society for Help to War Victims, Society for Help to Orphans and Refugees (1917-18).
In his works he strived to present the national character of the Armenian people, their history, their dreams and there sacred ideals. He was a literary genius loved by his country men and he wrote not only poems but fairytales, epic poems, lyric poems, stories for children and much more. He identified himself with the ordinary people and peasants and accordingly the characters in his works were mostly simple people and peasants. He was inspired by the mundane events of the ordinary people and wrote of the harsh living conditions of the people. His works were filled with wisdom, rich emotions, beautiful feelings, strong thoughts and depth.
Most celebrated of his works are the poem “Anush” which tells the tragic love story of a young Shepherd for a girl and his story “Gikor” tells the story of a 12 year old boy who goes to the city and becomes the victim of the cruelty of the city. Both these works clearly depicts the cultural, traditional and spiritual life of his day exposing the joys, sorrows, dreams and sacrifices of the people. These works tell the world all they would want to know about the Armenian culture and traditions.
His epic poetry is a valuable addition to the Armenian literature and "David of Sassoun" is one of them. Hovhannes's works are filled with philosophical reasoning and are concerned with the issues of life and death, purpose of man's life and man's connection with the nature. His quatrains are spiritual in nature and show his unquenched thirst for spiritual knowledge and his deep thoughts on man and his destiny.
Hovhannes did not stop with his contribution to Armenian literature. During his life time Armenia went through many struggles, the start of World War 1, genocide in Western Armenia, Armenian-Georgian clashes and the civil war. During this time of struggles he took center stage by making appeals, working with the social workers and strived for peace among nations. He died in the year 1923 succumbing to his illness in hospital in Moscow. He is still remembered and well known among his people and many of his works are staged as Opera and his wisdom and work are respected by people of all ages.
Credits:
Armenianhouse.org
Armenian History Timeline
Armenian Poetry
Hovhannes was an avid reader and educated himself successfully without the aid of formal schooling. He loved the works of Shakespeare, Byron, Pushkin, and Lermontov. He was keenly interested in world folklore and his writing was influenced by this so that he was able to preserve integrity of the Armenian cultural history in his works. Although he started writing early in his life, some time in his 10 or 11 years of age he was known as a poet only by the year 1890 when his first book of poetry was published. His artistic endeavor to the Armenian literature was such that his time is known as the Toumanian phase.
At the age of 19 he got married and was the father of ten children. To support his family he had to work in places where his talent was wasted and felt like living in hell in those days. However some time in the mid 1890s he left his work to concentrate fully on his writing. He spent most of his life in Tiflis and traveled very little.
Although his life was not one of many excitements, he was very active in social arena and was the founder organizer of many associations and organizations such as "Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers" in the year 1912, Union of Countrymen's Associations, Society for Help to War Victims, Society for Help to Orphans and Refugees (1917-18).
In his works he strived to present the national character of the Armenian people, their history, their dreams and there sacred ideals. He was a literary genius loved by his country men and he wrote not only poems but fairytales, epic poems, lyric poems, stories for children and much more. He identified himself with the ordinary people and peasants and accordingly the characters in his works were mostly simple people and peasants. He was inspired by the mundane events of the ordinary people and wrote of the harsh living conditions of the people. His works were filled with wisdom, rich emotions, beautiful feelings, strong thoughts and depth.
Most celebrated of his works are the poem “Anush” which tells the tragic love story of a young Shepherd for a girl and his story “Gikor” tells the story of a 12 year old boy who goes to the city and becomes the victim of the cruelty of the city. Both these works clearly depicts the cultural, traditional and spiritual life of his day exposing the joys, sorrows, dreams and sacrifices of the people. These works tell the world all they would want to know about the Armenian culture and traditions.
His epic poetry is a valuable addition to the Armenian literature and "David of Sassoun" is one of them. Hovhannes's works are filled with philosophical reasoning and are concerned with the issues of life and death, purpose of man's life and man's connection with the nature. His quatrains are spiritual in nature and show his unquenched thirst for spiritual knowledge and his deep thoughts on man and his destiny.
Hovhannes did not stop with his contribution to Armenian literature. During his life time Armenia went through many struggles, the start of World War 1, genocide in Western Armenia, Armenian-Georgian clashes and the civil war. During this time of struggles he took center stage by making appeals, working with the social workers and strived for peace among nations. He died in the year 1923 succumbing to his illness in hospital in Moscow. He is still remembered and well known among his people and many of his works are staged as Opera and his wisdom and work are respected by people of all ages.
Credits:
Armenianhouse.org
Armenian History Timeline
Armenian Poetry
My poetry
- The way was heavy and the night was dark,
And yet we survived32 lines, 1 comment - The Crane has lost his way across the heaven,
From yonder stormy cloud I hear him cry,24 lines - From early days I turned my gaze towards the vast unknown.
In heart and mind I soar above the abyss, intent and lone.32 lines - 'Neath a hazel's green, gathered in a ring
Sat the men of age, who had known life's sting.26 lines - Rising from ocean, billows uncontrolled,
With heavy flux and reflux, beating high,12 lines
