Ruben Hovsepyan ( hy, Ռուբեն Հովսեփյան; 5 May 1939 – 27 October 2016) was an Armenian novelist, translator and editor who became politically active in the 1990s, and, as member of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

, served in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 2000 to 2007. He was also a member of the Writers' Union of Armenia (

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

). Born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

on 5 May 1939, he studied geology at

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

, and graduated in 1962. He became the editor-in-chief of Nairi Publishing House in 1982 and left in 1987, assuming the post of secretary of the

Writers Union of Armenia The Writers' Union of Armenia was founded in August 1934, simultaneously with the USSR Union of Writers and as a component part of the USSR Union. 1930s The Constituent Assembly was held during 1 August - 5 August, after which the Armenian delegat ...

in 1988. Hovsepyan returned to editing for the magazine ''Nork'' in 1989, a position he held until his death in 2016 at the age of 77. Hovsepyan published approximately a dozen works in his literary career, which have been translated into other languages. He was also a translator of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's writings, and best known for a translation of '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

. Hovsepyan was named a by the Armenian government in 2014.

Works

* Ordan karmir. Sovetakan grol, Erevan, 1980 (Die karminrote Schildlaus. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin, 1986)

References

1939 births 2016 deaths Armenian novelists Armenian translators Armenian editors Armenian Revolutionary Federation politicians Members of the National Assembly (Armenia) Writers from Yerevan Yerevan State University alumni Translators of Leo Tolstoy Translators from Spanish {{Armenia-politician-stub