Hagop Oshagan

Hagop Oshagan ( hy, Յակոբ Օշական; December 9, 1883 in Soloz, Bursa – February 17, 1948 in Aleppo), was an Armenian writer, playwright, and novelist. Among his many novels are the trilogy ''To One Hundred and One Years'' (Հարիւր մէկ տարուան), ''The Harlot'' (Ծակ պտուկը), and his best-known work, ''Remnants'' (Մնացորդաց, 3 vols., 1932-1934), parts of which have been translated into English by G.M.Goshgarian.

Biography

Oshagan was born in 1883 as Hagop Kufejian in Soloz, a village near Bursa. Oshagan was spared the fate of many of his fellow writers and was able to elude the Turkish secret police until early 1918, when he fled from Constantinople to Bulgaria, disguised as a German officer. After the armistice, he returned to Constantinople in 1919, where he adopted his literary surname, and taught literature, actively participating in the literary activities of the Armenian community. At the end of 1922, as many other Armenian intellectuals, he left Constantinople permanently after the arrival of the Kemalist forces. He lived for a brief time in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and then worked as an instructor of Armenian literature in Egypt (1924-1928), Cyprus (1928-1935), and Palestine (1935-1948), where he forged a reputation as a charismatic educator and prolific writer of fiction, drama, and literary criticism. He died while on a visit to Aleppo, on the eve of a planned visit to Deir ez-Zor, where hundreds of thousands of Armenians had perished during the Armenian genocide.

The genocide of the Armenians defined Oshagan's larger project — the literary reconstruction of the lost ancestral homeland. He wrote his major works in exile. He devoted his knowledge of Armenian literature, his intimate experience of village life and of Turkish-Armenian relations to this project.

His output as a literary critic and historian is grounded in the monumental ''Panorama of Armenian Literature'' (Համապատկեր արեւմտահայ գրականութեան, 10 vols., 1945-1982), which has been used as a textbook in Armenian high schools. He is also the author of shorter, book-length volumes of literary studies.

His son Vahé Oshagan (1921-2000) followed in his father's footsteps. A poet, short story author, novelist, essayist, and literary scholar, he was one of the most important writers and public intellectuals of the Armenian diaspora.

Select bibliography

* ''Խոնարհները'' he Humble Ones Constantinople, 1920.
* ''Խորհուրդներու մեհեանը'' he Altar of the Symbols Constantinople, 1922.
* ''Երբ պատանի են'' hen they are YoungConstantinople: H. M. Setian, 1926.
* ''Մնացորդաց'' emnants 3 vols., Cairo: Houssaper, 1932-1934.
* ''Ստեփանոս Սիւնեցի'' tepanos Siunetsi Paris, 1938.
* ''Հայ գրականութիւն'' rmenian Literature Jerusalem: St. James Monastery Press, 1942.
* ''Երբ մեռնիլ գիտենք'' hen We Know to Die Jerusalem: St. James Monastery Press, 1944.
* ''Համապատկեր արեւմտահայ գրականութեան'' anorama of Western Armenian Literature Jerusalem: St. James Monastery Press (vol. 1-5), Beirut: Hamazkayin (vol. 6), and Antelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia (vol. 7-10), 1945-1982.
* ''Օրն օրերուն, Խորհուրդ մեր ժամանակներէն'' ay of Days: Advice from our TimesJerusalem: St. James Monastery Press, 1945.
* ''Սփիւռքը եւ իրաւ բանաստեղծութիւնը (Վահան Թէքէեանի առթիւ)'' he Diaspora and True Poetry: On the Occasion of Vahan Tekeyan Jerusalem: St. James Monastery Press, 1945.
* ''Վկայութիւն մը'' Testimony Aleppo: Ani, 1946.
* ''Քաղհանք'' arvest Jerusalem: St. James Monastery Press, 1946.
* ''Արեւելահայ բանասիրութիւնը եւ Էջմիածին'' astern Armenian Philology and Ejmiatsin Antelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia, 1948.
* ''Խոնարհները'' he Humble Ones Beirut: Ani, 1958.
* ''Երկեր'' orks Antelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia, 1973.
* ''Երկեր'' orks Yerevan: Sovetakan Grogh, 1980.
* ''Նամականի'' etters vol. I, Beirut: Altapress, 1983.
* ''Մայրիներու շուքին տակ'' nder the Shade of the Cedars Beirut: Altapress, 1983.
* ''Սիւլէյման Էֆէնտի'' uleyman EfendiAntelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia, 1985.
* ''Մնացորդաց'' emnants 3 vols., Antelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia, 1988 (vol. 1 trans.: ''Remnants: The Way of the Womb,'' translated by G.M. Goshgarian, London: Gomidas Institute, 2013).
* ''Երեք թատերախաղեր'' hree plays ed. Vahe Oshagan, San Francisco, 1990.
* ''Հարիւր մէկ տարուան'' ne Hundred and One Years ed. Boghos Snabian, Antelias: Catholicosate of Cilicia, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshagan, Hagop
Armenian-language writers
1883 births
1948 deaths
Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
People from Bursa Province
Novelists from the Ottoman Empire
19th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire
20th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire
19th-century male writers
20th-century male writers
Armenian expatriates in Bulgaria
Armenian expatriates in Egypt
Armenian expatriates in Mandatory Palestine