Vahe-Vahian (''Armenian'': Վահէ-Վահեան), born Sarkis Abdalian (22 December 1908,
Gürün
Gürün is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The mayor is Nami Çiftçi ( MHP).
History
Toponymy
The current name Gürün is most probably a corruption of the ancient name Tegarama, a city in Anatolia during the Bronze Age. ...
Turkey, died in 1998,
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 ...
, Lebanon), 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 ...
poet, writer, editor, pedagogue and orator.
Personal life
Vahe-Vahian was the fifth son of his parents; Hagop Abdalian, a merchant, and Azniv Vartabedian, who, with his two elder sisters and mother survived 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 ...
of 1915. As a kid, Vahe-Vahian had been the ocular witness of the assassination of his two brothers and father, and those atrocious scenes haunted him the rest of his life. After the many vicissitudes of his life, he completed his tertiary studies in 1930, with a BSc in Structural Engineering 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 ...
. The next four years he taught physics and mathematics to the upper classes in
Broumana High School, and then, in 1935 he was invited to Melkonian Institute of Education in Nicosia, Cyprus, as lecturer of Armenian language and literature.
In 1936, in Melkonian, Vahe-Vahian met Ashkhen Shadan, a fellow teacher, and got married in 1938. They had three children, Tsolak, Vahram and Shogher.
The death of Ashkhen in 1955 left her husband consumed. Vahe-Vahian, besides his daily occupation as a teacher to meet the needs of his family, was struggling at the time with the publication of ''Ani'', an Armenian monthly of Literature and Art, which was interrupted for a while. In 1968, Vahe-Vahian published a series of poems dedicated to his departed wife under the title of Մատեան Սիրոյ եւ Մորմոքի (''Book of Love and Grief'').
In 1957 Vahe-Vahian remarried to Anahid Topjian, and they had a daughter Sheila (1958). His book of poems, Ղօղանջ ու Մրմունջ Վերջալուսային (''Twilight Chime and Murmur'') (1990) is dedicated to Anahid for her affactionate and coddling support.
In 1976, Vahe-Vahian, for a second time, was devastated by the death of Vahram in a car-crash, and described his shock and grief in a book of 29 poems, Յուշարձան Վահրամիս (''Monument in Memory to Vahram) (1977). He first learned about the death of his son, when he was travelling around the United States and Canada on a fund raising mission for bereaved Armenians in Lebanon.
In his twenties, Vahe-Vahian had an emotionally intense sentimental life, appropriate to his young age. In the third section "Intimate letters" of the book Բանաստեղծին Սիրտը (''The Heart of the Poet'') (2012), we encounter his first platonic love letter to Mrs. Lucie Potoukian (Tosbath), written at the age of 24. Later, he, with a greater out-pouring of emotions, corresponds with the elder sister of Lucie, Siran Seza, a prose writer and the editor of newly published''Yeridasart Hayouhi'' Երիտասարդ Հայուհի (''The Young Armenian''), and with Alice Sinanian. Chronologically, from the first and to the last letter addressed to Siran Seza (11 September 1935), these love letters demonstrate the noble, sincere and genuine sentiments of the author, written in the sweet resonance and the magnificent architecture of the Western Armenian language, different from the language of his other letters, and which can certainly be considered as a literary tour de force by itself.
From 1946 onwards to his death in 1998, Vahe-Vahian took the decision to live and stay in Lebanon, despite the continuous civil war in the area from 1975 to 1990, with the strong conviction that the dismantling of the Armenian Community in Lebanon would be the last blow of mercy to the Armenian Diaspora.
Education
His primary education in the local 'Armenian National School' in
Gürün
Gürün is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The mayor is Nami Çiftçi ( MHP).
History
Toponymy
The current name Gürün is most probably a corruption of the ancient name Tegarama, a city in Anatolia during the Bronze Age. ...
was interrupted in 1914 by the deportation.
As a child he lived the terror of Turkish atrocities, which was occasionally reflected in his literature.
Surviving 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 ...
as an orphan, after having been forced out of Turkey, in 1919 he returned to
Aintab
Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...
at the
armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
with his mother, where he attended the local 'Vartanian School'. In 1921 he finally settled in
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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(Syria), where he continued his studies at the Armenian Evangelical School, which later became the
Aleppo College
Aleppo College ( ar, كلية حلب الأمريكية / معهد حلب العلمي; also called Aleppo American College) is a junior college. It awards high school degrees at the tenth grade. And up to 1964, it awarded freshman and sophomore cl ...
run by American missionaries. Still eager to learn, in 1925 he enrolled in 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 ...
where he gained a B.S. degree in Structural Engineering in 1930.
Career
In 1931 he commenced teaching Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at
Broumana Senior High School in Lebanon. In 1935 he was invited to assume the Armenian Language and Literature position vacated by
Vahan Tekeyan
Vahan Tekeyan ( hy, Վահան Թէքէեան (January 21, 1878, Constantinople - April 4, 1945, Cairo) was an Armenian poet and public activist. In his lifetime he was the most famous poet of the Armenian diaspora, and he remains a significant sy ...
at the
Melkonian Educational Institute
The Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) ( hy, Մելգոնեան Կրթական Հաստատութիւն (ՄԿՀ)) was an Armenian boarding school of high academic standard located in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Established in 1926 by the Melkonian bro ...
.
In the autumn of 1946 he moved to Beirut where he launched the monthly magazine 'Ani'
of Armenian Literature and Art acting as the editor for the next 9 years. Ani has served as a pacesetter in modern Armenian literature by introducing new works from Armenia to Diaspora readers, and nurturing young talents in the Diaspora.
In 1947 he was appointed part-time teacher of Armenian Language and Literature in senior high schools in Beirut, patronised by the
Armenian General Benevolent Union
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...
(AGBU).
In 1964 he founded the 'Yervant Hussissian Armenology Institute' in Beirut,
and held the position of Principal and lecturer of Armenian Language and Literature. Over the span of a decade, hundreds of Armenian teachers were educated to subsequently pursue their chosen profession at different Armenian institutions all over the world.
Holder of several social and cultural posts in the Armenian community, both in Cyprus and Lebanon, he was invited to Armenia on several occasions in 1946, 1975, 1978 and 1981 to participate in literary conferences, attended university celebrations of outstanding historical events and met with prolific Armenian writers of the time.
Always on the go, first in 1946 then in 1976, during the devastating situation of the Armenians at the start of the civil war in Lebanon, he was sent on a mission to the USA and Canada to undertake fundraising activities organised by the Central Committee of AGBU in America on behalf of bereaved Armenians in Lebanon.
In 1970, the Catholicosate of Antelias (Lebanon) presented him with the Gold Medal for his prolific career as an educator and a writer. He was also awarded, the order of
Saint Mesrop Mashtots by Armenia's Cultural Ministry for his devotion to Armenian culture and heritage in 1981.
In 1955 and 1978 respectively, he edited and published with detailed prefaces, the works of eminent poets Madtheos Zarifian and
Vahan Tekeyan
Vahan Tekeyan ( hy, Վահան Թէքէեան (January 21, 1878, Constantinople - April 4, 1945, Cairo) was an Armenian poet and public activist. In his lifetime he was the most famous poet of the Armenian diaspora, and he remains a significant sy ...
.
External links
* Vahé-Vahian – Great Poet of W. Armenian Literature by Edwin Charles http://www.keghart.com/Charles-Vahian
* A Monument to My Darling Vahram http://www.keghart.com/Vahe-Vahian-Vahramis
* "The Poet's Heart" http://www.keghart.com/Attarian-Vahian
* Վահէ-Վահեանի Աւանդը http://www.keghart.com/Vahe-Vahian-Legacy
* «Բանաստեղծին Սիրտը» http://www.aaeurop.com/?p=14303
Works
Poetry
* Արեւ-անձրեւ (Sun-Rain), Beirut, 1933
* Ոսկի կամուրջ (Golden Bridge), Beirut, 1946
* Ոսկի կամուրջ (Golden Bridge - poems, Memoirs and critics), Yerevan, 1958
* Մատեան սիրոյ եւ մորմոքի (Book of Love and Grief), Beirut, 1968
* Յուշարձան Վահրամիս (Monument in memory of Vahram, Beirut, 1977
* Հատընտիր (Selected Poems), Beirut, 1986
* Ղօղանջ ու մրմունջ վերջալուսային (Twilight Chime and Murmur), Beirut, 1990;
Prose
* Յարալէզներու հաշտութիւնը (The Reconciliation of Arlez-Memoirs from a visit to the Motherland), Beirut, 1953
* Բերքահաւաք (Harvest - Essays in three volumes), Vol. I, Jerusalem, 1978, Vol. II, Beirut, 1987 & Vol. III Beirut, 1993
Posthumous work
* Հրաժեշտի քերթուածներ (Farewell Poems), Beirut (Lebanon), 2009
* Բանաստեղծին սիրտը. նամակներ (The Heart of the Poet - Private Letters), Beirut (Lebanon), 2012
Editing
* Հայ գրականութիւնը - պատմուածքներ, Vol. I (An Anthology of Armenian Literature - Short stories, Vol. I) Beirut (Lebanon), 1978
* Ծաղկաքաղ արձակի (An Anthology of Armenian Prose in three Volumes) Beirut (Lebanon), 1984, 1985 & 1988
Translated works
* Անծանօթ գլուխ-գործոցը (''Le Chef-d'Oeuvre Inconnu'' by Honore de Balzac, from French original), Beirut (Lebanon), 1950
* Մարգարէն (''The Prophet'' by Gebran Khalil Gebran, from the English original), Beirut (Lebanon), 1984
* Պարտիզպանը, Կիթանճալի եւ Մրգահաւաք (''The Gardener,
Gitanjali
__NOTOC__
''Gitanjali'' ( bn, গীতাঞ্জলি, lit='Song offering') is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature, for the English translation, Gitanjali:''Song Offer ...
& Fruit-gethering'' by Rabindranath Tagore, from the English original), Beirut, 1985
* Տորիան Կրէյի պատկերը (''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' by Oscar Wilde, from the English original), Beirut, (Lebanon), 1992
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vahian, Vahe
1908 births
1998 deaths
People from Gürün
20th-century Armenian poets
Armenian genocide survivors
Armenian-language writers
Turkish emigrants to Lebanon
Armenian-language poets
20th-century male writers
Date of death missing
Lebanese writers