Tovmas Terzian ( hy, Թովմաս Թէրզեան, born

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, October 21, 1840 –

February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. *1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...

, 1909) was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n poet, playwright, and professor.

Biography

Tovmas Terzian was born to an

n father and an Italian mother. After attending the local Mekhitarist school, he attended the Murad-Raphaelian school in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on the San Lazzaro Island from which he graduated in 1858. Upon returning to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, he dedicated himself to teaching. He taught at Nersesian, Nubar-Shahnazarian, and

Getronagan Getronagan is an Armenian minority high school in the Karaköy district of Istanbul, Turkey, The school is attached to the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Church. Establishment With the sponsorship of Archbishop Nerses Varjabetyan, Getronagan H ...

. His students included famous

ns such as Reteos Berberian, Minas Cheraz, Yeghia Demirdjibashian,

Krikor Zohrab Krikor Zohrab ( hy, Գրիգոր Զոհրապ; 26 June 1861 – 1915) was an influential Armenian writer, politician, and lawyer from Constantinople (now Istanbul). At the onset of the Armenian genocide he was arrested by the Turkish government an ...

Yerukhan Yervant Srmakeshkhanlian, ( hy, Երուանդ Սրմաքէշխանլեան; 1870 – 1915) known by his pen name Erukhan ( hy, Երուխան) or Yerukhan, was an Armenian writer of late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was killed during the Arm ...

, and other writers and teachers. Tovmas Terzian was fluent in English, Armenian, French, Italian, Classical Greek, Latin, Turkish, and Greek.

Works

Tovmas Terzian is famed mainly for his poetry and plays. His most important play being, ''Arshak II'' (1871) which was loosely based on the life of the 4th century

n king Arshak II. The play written in both Italian and Armenian was intended as an opera libretto. The music for this opera was composed by the

n composer

Dikran Tchouhadjian Tigran Gevorki Chukhajian ( hy, Տիգրան Չուխաճեան, tr, Dikran Çuhacıyan; 1837 – March 11, 1898) was an Ottoman Armenian composer and conductor, and the founder of the first opera institution in the Ottoman Empire. Biography ...

who used the Italian version of the play Arsace II. Terzian never saw his play on stage either in its operatic form or as a straight play. The Soviet version of the opera Arshak II which first appeared on stage in 1941 at the

Yerevan Opera House Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet ( hy, Ալեքսանդր Սպենդիարյանի անվան օպերայի և բալետի ազգային ակադեմիական թատրոն, ''Aleksandr Spendiaryani anvan operayi yev bale ...

was a big success. However, beyond the title and names of some of the characters, it had very little in common with Terzian's play.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terzian, Tovmas 19th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire Armenian-language writers Educators from the Ottoman Empire Writers from Istanbul 1840 births 1909 deaths San Lazzaro degli Armeni alumni Armenians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century male writers Armenian-language poets People from the Ottoman Empire of Italian descent Dramatists and playwrights from the Ottoman Empire