Arshag Chobanian
Encyclopedia
Arshag Hovhannes Chobanian (in Armenian
Արշակ Հովհաննես Չոպանեան) (born July 15, 1872 Constantinople
, Ottoman Turkey - died June 9, 1954 Paris
, France
), was a famed Armenian
short story writer, journalist, editor, poet, translator, literary critic, playwright, philologist, and novelist.
district of Constantinople to an Armenian
family whose origins go back to the village of Agn (Kemaliye). His mother died when he was about a month old and his father was a respected goldsmith. He received his education from the local Makruhian school. He later transferred to the prestigious Getronagan Varjaran (Central Lyceum) in Karakoy
. After graduating from the lyceum, he started to write for the Hayrenik (Fatherland) Armenian
newspaper whose editorial board consisted of famed writers such as Levon Pashalian
, Arpiar Arpiarian
, and Krikor Odian.
In 1893, after gaining international appeal with his first play Mut Khaver (Dark Stratas), he was invited to Paris
for a honorarium. There he met famed literary figures such as Emile Zola
, François Coppée
, Alphonse Daudet
, Jean Lorrain
, and Madame Caroline Severine
.
In 1894 he became of editor-in-chief of the Armenian
newspaper Tsaghik (Flower). In 1895, after hearing about the Armenian massacres
, he chose to remain in Paris
and did so the rest of his life.
In 1898 he founded his famous periodical Anahit. His connections and acquaintances with prominent literary and intellectual figures in France
allowed him to write about the Armenian massacres
and injustices freely in popular French newspapers such as Mercure de France
. He became a strong advocate of western support in order to save the Armenians
from the oppression of the Ottoman
government. After joining the Ramgavar party, he met with Boghos Nubar
and participated in the Armenian National Delegation during the Paris Peace Conference
of 1919. In 1933 he visited Soviet Armenia and met with prominent intellectuals. After returning to Paris
, he died on June 9, 1954.
realist writers, though he also has many works in the romantic style as well. His first essays were published in 1891, in a booklet called Arshaluysi Tsayner (The sounds of dawn), followed by a series of poems called Trtrumner (Shudderings) in 1892. These initial works were followed by his first novel Tughti Parki(The glory of paper). After writing his first play Mut Khaver (Dark Strats), he was invited to Paris
for a honorarium. His early works tend to be romantic but after meeting and appreciating Arpiar Arpiarian
, a realist writer himself, he began writing in the realist style. However, he never fully ceased writing in romantic style. In 1894 he published the works of Bedros Tourian and provided his own analysis to his poems. This work was important in reviving Bedros Tourian's poetry which at the time was being undermined in terms of its value. In 1907 Chobanian published a critical study of famed poet Mkrtich Beshiktashlian which included a series of his own poems. Demker (Portraits) was a two volume set of literary critics of contemporary Armenian writers. In his study of Grigor Naregatsi, the tenth century Armenian
religious mystic, Chobanian considers Madyan Voghperkuyuni (Book of lamentations) one of the greatest literary pieces in world literature and it is due to Chobanians insight that Grigor Naregatsi has gained such a repertory.
Chobanian did extensive research on middle age Armenian
poetry. He recovered ancient Armenian
poems and songs known as Hayrens and published them in two volumes, Nahapet Kuchaki Divani (The collected poems of Nahabet Kuchak, 1902) and Hayreni Purastan (Gardens of Armenian
poems, 1940).
His literary periodical Anahit served as an important literary source for Armenian literature
and played a crucial role in the Armenian literary, cultural, philological movement. Lasting for almost three decades during two separate intervals (1898-1911; 1929-1949), it gathered some of the most prominent figures in the Armenian
literary scene who revered it as an outstanding achievement in the Armenian
literature.
He introduced Armenian history, arts, and literature in French intellectual circles by writing in prestigious periodicals such as Revue Blanche, Revue de Revues, Revues de Encyclopedie, and more. Among some of the readers of these writings was famed French
novelist and writer Anatole France
, who thereafter sympathized with the plight of the Armenian
people. Chobanian translated many Armenian
poems into French and culminated into a three volume work called Roseraie d'Armenie (Rose Garden of Armenia 1918-1929). Chopanian wrote literary criticism of European writers such as Emile Verhaeren
, Honore de Balzac
, Victor Hugo
, Emile Zola
, Henrik Ibsen
, and many more.
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
Արշակ Հովհաննես Չոպանեան) (born July 15, 1872 Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, Ottoman Turkey - died June 9, 1954 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), was a famed Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
short story writer, journalist, editor, poet, translator, literary critic, playwright, philologist, and novelist.
Biography
Arshag Chobanian was born in the BeşiktaşBesiktas
Beşiktaş is a municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and on the east by the Bosphorus...
district of Constantinople to an Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
family whose origins go back to the village of Agn (Kemaliye). His mother died when he was about a month old and his father was a respected goldsmith. He received his education from the local Makruhian school. He later transferred to the prestigious Getronagan Varjaran (Central Lyceum) in Karakoy
Karaköy
Karaköy, the modern name for the ancient Galata, is a commercial neighborhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus....
. After graduating from the lyceum, he started to write for the Hayrenik (Fatherland) Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
newspaper whose editorial board consisted of famed writers such as Levon Pashalian
Levon Pashalian
Levon Pashalian , is a famed Armenian short story writer, journalist, editor, novelist, and politician.- Biography :...
, Arpiar Arpiarian
Arpiar Arpiarian
Arpiar Arpiarian was an influential 19th century Armenian writer, the pioneer of realism in Armenian literature and a political activist.- Early life and education :...
, and Krikor Odian.
In 1893, after gaining international appeal with his first play Mut Khaver (Dark Stratas), he was invited to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for a honorarium. There he met famed literary figures such as Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, François Coppée
François Coppée
François Edouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.-Biography:He was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war, and won public favour as a poet of the Parnassian school. His first printed verses date from 1864...
, Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist. He was the father of Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet.- Early life :Alphonse Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the bourgeoisie. The father, Vincent Daudet, was a silk manufacturer — a man dogged through life by misfortune...
, Jean Lorrain
Jean Lorrain
Jean Lorrain , born Paul Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school....
, and Madame Caroline Severine
Caroline Rémy de Guebhard
Caroline Rémy de Guebhard Caroline Rémy de Guebhard Caroline Rémy de Guebhard (April 27, 1855, Paris — April 24, 1929, was a French socialist, journalist, and feminist best known under the pen name Séverine....
.
In 1894 he became of editor-in-chief of the Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
newspaper Tsaghik (Flower). In 1895, after hearing about the Armenian massacres
Hamidian massacres
The Hamidian massacres , also referred to as the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896, refers to the massacring of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, with estimates of the dead ranging from anywhere between 80,000 to 300,000, and at least 50,000 orphans as a result...
, he chose to remain in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and did so the rest of his life.
In 1898 he founded his famous periodical Anahit. His connections and acquaintances with prominent literary and intellectual figures in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
allowed him to write about the Armenian massacres
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
and injustices freely in popular French newspapers such as Mercure de France
Mercure de France
The Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group....
. He became a strong advocate of western support in order to save the Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
from the oppression of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
government. After joining the Ramgavar party, he met with Boghos Nubar
Boghos Nubar
Boghos Nubar also known as Boghos Nubar Pasha was a Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly, liberal, the son of Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha and the founder, alongside ten other Armenian national movement leaders, of the Armenian General Benevolent Union on April 15, 1905.He was the...
and participated in the Armenian National Delegation during the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
of 1919. In 1933 he visited Soviet Armenia and met with prominent intellectuals. After returning to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, he died on June 9, 1954.
Literary Career
Arshag Chobanian is considered one of the fundamental ArmenianArmenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
realist writers, though he also has many works in the romantic style as well. His first essays were published in 1891, in a booklet called Arshaluysi Tsayner (The sounds of dawn), followed by a series of poems called Trtrumner (Shudderings) in 1892. These initial works were followed by his first novel Tughti Parki(The glory of paper). After writing his first play Mut Khaver (Dark Strats), he was invited to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for a honorarium. His early works tend to be romantic but after meeting and appreciating Arpiar Arpiarian
Arpiar Arpiarian
Arpiar Arpiarian was an influential 19th century Armenian writer, the pioneer of realism in Armenian literature and a political activist.- Early life and education :...
, a realist writer himself, he began writing in the realist style. However, he never fully ceased writing in romantic style. In 1894 he published the works of Bedros Tourian and provided his own analysis to his poems. This work was important in reviving Bedros Tourian's poetry which at the time was being undermined in terms of its value. In 1907 Chobanian published a critical study of famed poet Mkrtich Beshiktashlian which included a series of his own poems. Demker (Portraits) was a two volume set of literary critics of contemporary Armenian writers. In his study of Grigor Naregatsi, the tenth century Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
religious mystic, Chobanian considers Madyan Voghperkuyuni (Book of lamentations) one of the greatest literary pieces in world literature and it is due to Chobanians insight that Grigor Naregatsi has gained such a repertory.
Chobanian did extensive research on middle age Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
poetry. He recovered ancient Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
poems and songs known as Hayrens and published them in two volumes, Nahapet Kuchaki Divani (The collected poems of Nahabet Kuchak, 1902) and Hayreni Purastan (Gardens of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
poems, 1940).
His literary periodical Anahit served as an important literary source for Armenian literature
Armenian literature
-Early literature:Armenian literature begins about 406 with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop.Isaac, the Catholicos of Armenia, formed a school of translators who were sent to Edessa, Athens, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea in Cappadocia, and elsewhere, to procure...
and played a crucial role in the Armenian literary, cultural, philological movement. Lasting for almost three decades during two separate intervals (1898-1911; 1929-1949), it gathered some of the most prominent figures in the Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
literary scene who revered it as an outstanding achievement in the Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
literature.
He introduced Armenian history, arts, and literature in French intellectual circles by writing in prestigious periodicals such as Revue Blanche, Revue de Revues, Revues de Encyclopedie, and more. Among some of the readers of these writings was famed French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
novelist and writer Anatole France
Anatole France
Anatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...
, who thereafter sympathized with the plight of the Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
people. Chobanian translated many Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
poems into French and culminated into a three volume work called Roseraie d'Armenie (Rose Garden of Armenia 1918-1929). Chopanian wrote literary criticism of European writers such as Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet who wrote in the French language, and one of the chief founders of the school of Symbolism....
, Honore de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
, Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, and many more.