Kevork Vartani Ajemian (''Adjemian'') (in
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 ...
Գևորգ Աճեմյան, in
Western Armenian
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
Գէորգ Աճեմեան) (May 23, 1932 – December 27, 1998) was a prominent
Lebanese-Armenian
The Armenians in Lebanon ( hy, Լիբանանահայեր, translit=Libananahayer; ar, الأرمن في لبنان; french: Arméniens du Liban) are Lebanese citizens of Armenian descent. There has been an Armenian presence in Lebanon for centur ...
writer, journalist, novelist, theorist and public activist, and long-time publisher of the
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
-based literary, artistic and general publication ''
Spurk'' (in
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 ...
Սփիւռք). Ajemian was a co-founder of the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide i ...
(ASALA) military organization.
Biography
Ajemian was born in
Manbij
Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cent ...
, near
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, into a family of survivors of 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 ...
, originally from
Sasun
Sason ( hy, Սասուն, translit=Sasun, ku, Qabilcewz, ar, قبل جوز; formerly known as Sasun or Sassoun) is a district and town in the Batman Province of Turkey. It was formerly part of the sanjak of Siirt, which was in Diyarbakır vi ...
. He studied in Aleppo, then in 1952 he moved to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
.
Ajemian graduated from the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
in 1958. He taught Armenian and English language and literature in some Armenian schools of Beirut and Cyprus for a few years. He was the editor of ''
The Daily Star'' in Beirut, contributed to ''Shirak'' and ''Graser'' Armenian literary magazines. He was a regular contributor to
Spurk'', which he edited for a short time in 1965 and then from 1975-1978. He later published three issues as a yearbook from 1985-1998.
A representative of the new generation of
Armenian Diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
n writers of the 1960s, Ajemian wrote both in Armenian and in English, and his books were published in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
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 the United States. Ajemian "has been acclaimed as a powerful intellectual voice in Armenian freedom movements as his works express the longing, rootlessness, and despair of diasporan peoples everywhere". As a novelist he experimented with modern forms and postsurrealist techniques. According to "The Book Buyer's Guide" (1969), in his first English novel ''Symphony in Discord'', Ajemian, "a well-known Armenian author takes a look and a laugh at life in an unusually provocative study". His ''Ruling over the Ruins'' novel is a love story of a bright young Irish journalist and an aging Armenian lawyer marooned together in war-ravaged Beirut.
According to Kari S. Neely, Ajemian's writings in both Armenian and English are more like philosophical tracks than fiction and his "writing style, perhaps like his lifestyle, is aggressive and direct, never mincing words". They overtly deal with themes of diaspora's identity. In his ''A Perpetual Path'' novel Ajemian points the finger "inwardly to the Armenian people, blaming them for their past calamities". Even the violence is necessary to assert your rights, because no one is going to give them to you willingly.
Ajemian was one of the founders of
ASALA
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide i ...
and developed the policy of the organization. One of the most famous novels of Ajemian, ''The Descendants of Milky Way'' ("''Hartkoghi zharankortnere''"), is dedicated to the life of the Armenian youth in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
of the 1970s. In another novel by Ajemian, "A Time for Terror" (1997), the story concerns an attempt to assassinate the head of the Armenian Liberation Army in 1980s Beirut. In 1997 the book was discussed at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
radio.
In 1979 Ajemian took part in the First Armenian Congress Organizing Committee (
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 in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France, aged 66.
In 1999, a collection of the best journalistic works of Ajemian was published by ASALA.
Selected bibliography
In English
*''Symphony in Discord'', novel,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, 1961, 128 p.,
*''The Fallacy of Modern Politics'', politological research,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, 1986, 199 p.,
*''A Time for Terror'', novel,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, 1997, 196 p.
*"Ruling over the Ruins", novel, United States, 1999, 262 p..
In Armenian
*''Impossible Story'',
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, 1956,
*''Unsafe Streets'',
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
, 1968, 375 p.,
*''The Only Decision'',
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, 1972, 199 p.,
*''A Speech for the Road'', 1999, 349 p.
*''The Complete Works in Armenian'', Vol I-V, Yerevan, 2012-2018
«ՍՓԻՒՌՔ» ԳԻՏԱՈՒՍՈՒՄՆԱԿԱՆ ԿԵՆՏՐՈՆԻ ԱՄԲՈՂՋԱԿԱՆ ՀՐԱՏԱՐԱԿՈՒԹԻՒՆԸ. ԳԷՈՐԳ ԱՃԵՄԵԱՆ/ 05 Հոկտեմբեր 2018
/ref>
References
External links
Kevork Ajemian
Ajemian at Amazon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajemian, Kevork
1932 births
1998 deaths
Syrian people of Armenian descent
People from Manbij District
Lebanese writers
Syrian emigrants to France
20th-century Armenian writers
French male writers
Lebanese people of Armenian descent
20th-century French male writers