The work of the writer and poet Hovhannes Tumanyan had a significant impact on the development of the entire Armenian literature. His works have been translated into many languages, heroes and plots invented by him have been embodied on the theater stage, in cinema and painting. In Armenia today there are several museums dedicated to the heritage of Tumanyan, streets, schools and even a whole city are named after him in this country.
early years
Hovhannes Tadevosovich Tumanyan was born on February 19, 1869 in the family of a clergyman in the village of Dsekh, located in Lori (this is an area in the north of Armenia, bordering Georgia).
Hovhannes received his primary education in Stepanavan. In 1883, he transferred to the Nersesyanov School in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), but due to material problems he could not graduate from it and in 1887 was forced to get a job at the Tiflis Armenian People's Court.
A year later, in 1888, an important event happened in the personal life of Ovanes Tadevosovich - he married Olga Machkalyan. They lived together until the writer's death, they had ten children - six daughters and four sons. It is known that one of Tamara's daughters, when she grew up, became a respected architect in Armenia.
The next place of service for Tumanyan after the people's court was the office of the Armenian Publishing Union. Here he worked until 1893. In the office, Tumanyan had access to art books, and he read them voraciously. Among the things he read during this period were the works of Armenian writers of the past, and fairy tales of the peoples of the world, and masterpieces of world classics.
Tumanyan's literary work
Hovhannes Tumanyan's literary works began to appear in Armenian periodicals (in particular, in children's magazines) in the early 1890s. And his first book was published in 1892. It was called simply - "Poems". This book made Tumanyan famous in Armenia. Around the same time, he published a number of poems ("Maro", "Sako from Lori", "Wailing", "Anush"), which describe the patriarchal way of life of the Armenian peasants and their hard lot.
Researchers of Tumanyan's work note that many of his creations are based on the national epic, Armenian folk legends and traditions. As an example, one can cite his ballads and fairy tales such as "The Capture of the Tmuk Fortress" (1902), "David of Sasunsky" (1902), "Parvana" (1903), "Master and Servant" (1908), "A Drop of Honey" (1909), "Pigeon Skete" (1913), "Brave Nazar" (1912), "Shah and the peddler" (1917).
Social activity
In addition to literary creativity, Ovanes Tadevosovich was actively involved in social activities. In 1899, in Tiflis, he founded the literary community "Vernatun", which included many talented Armenian prose writers and poets of those years (Avetik Isahakyan, Gazaros Aghayan, Derenik Demirchyan, etc.).
In 1905, Hovhannes Tumanyan created a magazine for children "Asker" (translated into Russian - "Kolosya"). This magazine published both his own tales and poems, and the works of other authors.
In 1907, Tumanyan, together with Arakel Leo, Levon Shant and Vrtanes Papazyan, compiled a primer and a book for reading "Lusaber" ("Svetoch") for schools. In this book, original works in Armenian were interspersed with translations from Pushkin, Chekhov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky and other Russian classics. Also, with the assistance of Tumanyan, a children's anthology "Armenian Writers" was published.
From 1912 to 1921, he served as the chairman of the Caucasian Union of Armenian Writers.
During the years of the Armenian genocide, Hovhannes Tumanyan provided assistance and support to people who fled from the Turkish massacre from Western Armenia to the Erivan province. In addition, in 1918, during the Armenian-Georgian war, the writer advocated its early end, for peace between these peoples.
Last years and death
After the establishment of the power of the Soviets in Armenia, the poet headed the Committee for Aid to Armenia. In the fall of 1921, Tumanyan traveled to Constantinople as the head of this Committee. And this was practically his last business trip abroad. Upon his return, a serious illness (cancer) confined him to bed. It is known that in the last year and a half of his life, Tumanyan was busy with the processing of some of his own works. He also had new ideas, but, alas, they were no longer destined to come true.
Hovhannes Tumanyan died in a hospital on March 23, 1923 in Moscow. He was buried in Tbilisi at the cemetery known as the Khojivanka Pantheon.
