Hovhannes Shiraz | |
|---|---|
 Shiraz in 2015 | |
| Born | Onik Tadevosi Karapetyan 27 April 1915 |
| Died | 14 March 1984 (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Komitas Pantheon |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | Armenian |
| Genre | Lyric poetry |
| Spouse |
|
| Children | 8, includingAra andSipan |
Hovhannes Shiraz (Armenian:Հովհաննես Շիրազ; April 27, 1915 – March 14, 1984) was anArmenian poet.
Shiraz was bornOnik Tadevosi Karapetyan in the city ofAlexandropol, then part of theRussian Empire (nowGyumri,Armenia). His mother, Astghik, was widowed by theArmenian genocide shortly before his birth.[1] Shiraz grew up in considerable poverty. His first work, calledBeginning of Spring, was published in 1935. NovelistAtrpet gave the talented poet the epithet "Shiraz", because "this youth's poems have the fragrance of roses, fresh and covered with dew, like the roses of Shiraz" (Shiraz being one of Iran's major cities, famous for its roses and poets). Another version of his pen name is "Shirak azn"—a child of Shirak, the region he was from.[2]
In 1937 Hovhannes Shiraz entered the Armenian Literature Department atYerevan State University, where he studied until 1941. He also studied at theMoscow Maxim Gorky Literature Institute. In 1958, he published the first volume of his anthologyKnar Hayastani (Lyre of Armenia).[3] The second and third volumes were published in 1965 and 1974. These collections include the best examples of Shiraz's poetry.[4]
Shiraz mostly wrote and published poetry. He is the author of many popular patriotic and love poems including "Ani", "My Mother", "May my love remain a secret", "Siamanto and Khjezare", "Expromptu", "Like the Pagan Love", "My Holy Homeland", "The Fate of Armenians", "To Andranik", etc. He wrote "The Armenian Dante-esque" about theArmenian genocide, a subject that was banned inSoviet Union. The first version of this masterpiece was written in 1941.[5] Only short passages from this work were published inSoviet Armenia during his lifetime, and some chapters were published inBeirut andTehran. The entire poem (over 8000 lines) was published in 1990 inYerevan.
He first married the famous Armenian poetSilva Kaputikyan. His son with Kaputikyan,Ara Shiraz, was a sculptor. Shiraz had seven children with his second wife, Shushanik Shiraz (Aristakesyan), one of whom wasSipan Shiraz, a poet.
He was buried atKomitas Pantheon inYerevan,[6] along with other distinguished Armenians.
Yerevan school #169, and a street inJulfa,Isfahan, are named after him. TheHovhannes Shiraz House-Museum is located in a nineteenth-century building inGyumri.[7]
In 2014, theCentral Bank of Armenia issued a 10000dram silver commemorative coin dedicated to the centenary of Hovhannes Shiraz’s birthday.[8]
Shiraz was known for his goodsense of humour. In 1963John Steinbeck visited the poet's apartment in Yerevan, and later wrote in a letter: "...men are closest together when they laugh together. And I remember that in Yerevan we laughed together a great deal."[9]
Yevgeny Yevtushenko[10] andAlexander Gitovich[11] dedicated poems to Shiraz.
Shiraz was an anti-establishment poet, popular among the people of Soviet Armenia, who fought against its corrupt Soviet leadership all his life.[12] In 1974, when the well-known literary criticSuren Aghababyan informed Shiraz about his award of theOrder of Lenin, Shiraz responded: "And what they [the Soviet government] want in exchange? To buy my silence?"[4]
Shiraz is an author of about forty poetry books and translations. His rich vocabulary and sensitive style, enhanced by folk and colloquial elements,[13] made his poetry one of the highest achievements ofArmenian literature. Critics consider many of his works to be masterpieces. According toParuyr Sevak, "Modern Armenian poetry has risen on the ridge of Shiraz".[4] "Shiraz is a great talent, we should be proud and consider as a great honor that we personally know him", wroteWilliam Saroyan. Shiraz built his poems with Armenian "tuff of emotions", addedYevgeny Yevtushenko.[14]
In my dreams my door was knocked at,
"Who is it?" I asked from inside.
Some elderly lady from the outside
Answered and said, "I'd sacrifice myself for you."
"I've come to ask for a piece of bread as charity
I'm a poor orphan woman with no one to support me."
At this point I opened my door immediately,
Only to find a miracle; it was my deceased mother indeed!
I was shocked but fell into her arms;
And my mother said, "It's me, it's me,
I've come to try you and to check on you.
I hope life hasn't changed your spirit and also you?!"
I came in the form of a beggar
So that the whole world can be a witness
To see if your conscience, my dear son,
If your conscience also died along with me?!"
(Translated from Armenian by Daniel Janoyan)
Poems of Shiraz are known throughout the formerUSSR (his works were translated byArseny Tarkovsky andNikolay Aseev) and abroad. AsAndrey Dementyev writes, Hovhannes Shiraz, likeSergey Yesenin, uses manymetaphors, so it's very hard to translate his poems.[15]
During a meeting with Soviet writers, to demonstrate what kind of poetry he liked best,Hindi writerBhisham Sahni, showed a journal containing poems by Hovhannes Shiraz.[16]
TheHovhannes Shiraz House-Museum is located on Varpetats Street, Gyumri. In July 1983, Soviet Armenian officials presented the house to Shiraz. The house was built in 1886 and belonged to a millionaire. During the Soviet era, it was used as a storehouse. Due to the1988 Armenian earthquake, the museum's refurbishment was interrupted, and 8 homeless families found shelter in the house. In 2003 it became a house-museum by the resolution of the Armenian government.
