Arshag Chobanian (; 15 July 1872 – 9 June 1954) was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

short story writer, journalist, editor, poet, translator, literary critic, playwright, philologist, and novelist.

Biography

His father was a respected goldsmith. In 1898 he founded his famous periodical ''Anahit''. His connections and acquaintances with prominent literary and intellectual figures in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

allowed him to write about the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

and injustices freely in popular French newspapers such as

Mercure de France The 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. The gazette was published f ...

. He became a strong advocate of western support in order to save the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

from the oppression of the Ottoman government. After joining the

Ramgavar The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

party, he met with

Boghos Nubar Boghos Nubar ( hyw, Պօղոս Նուպար), also known as Boghos Nubar Pasha () (2 August 1851 – 25 June 1930), was a chairman of the Armenian National Delegation, and the founder, alongside ten other Armenian national movement leaders, of th ...

and participated in the Armenian National Delegation during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In 1933 he visited

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

and met with prominent intellectuals. After returning to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he died on 9 June 1954.

Literary career

Arshag Chobanian is considered one of the fundamental

realist writers, though he also has many works in the romantic style as well. Among some of the readers of these writings was famed French novelist and writer

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

, who thereafter sympathized with the plight of the Armenian people. Chobanian wrote literary criticism of European writers such as

Emile Verhaeren Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

, and many more.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chobanian, Arshag 1872 births 1954 deaths 19th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire People from Beşiktaş Armenians from the Ottoman Empire French people of Armenian descent Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to France 19th-century Armenian writers 20th-century Armenian writers