Paruyr Sevak (January 24, 1924 – June 17, 1971) was an Armenian poet, translator and literary critic. He is considered one of the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century.

Biography

Sevak was born Paruyr Ghazaryan in the village of Chanakhchi (now Zangakatun), Armenian SSR, Soviet Union to Rafael and Anahit Soghomonyan on January 24, 1924. His ancestors had migrated to Chanakhchi, a remote, mountainous village, from the village of Havtvan in Salmast (Salmas), Iran in 1828. Young Paruyr attended the village school, where he wrote his first poems and published them in the school wall newspaper. Sevak spent part of his childhood and adolescence in a location called Navchalu yayla near his native village; in his early writings, he signed his writings with 'Navchalu' as the location where they were written. In 1939, he became a student at the philological faculty of Yerevan State University. He graduated in 1945. The same year he started his postgraduate studies in Armenian literature at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences, which lasted until 1948. In 1951, Sevak went to Moscow to study at the Gorky Institute of World Literature. After graduation, he worked there as professor of translation in 1957-59. In 1960 Sevak returned to Yerevan and resumed his prolific and meaningful literary, scientific and public career. He started to work at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature as a scientific researcher. From 1966-1971 Sevak served as secretary on the Board of the Writers Union of Armenia. In 1967 Sevak became a doctor of philology after his dissertation defense. In 1968 he was elected to the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR. Sevak died on June 17, 1971, in a car crash while on a drive back to Yerevan. In previous years, he had voiced his criticism of the cultural policies of the Soviet government and for this, many Armenians believe, he was murdered by the Soviet government. His wife, Nelly Menagharishvili, also died in the car crash. He was buried in the backyard of his home, in Zangakatun, which later became a museum open to everyone.

Literary work

Sevak's long poem Anlr’eli zangakatunë (The Incessant Bell-tower) is dedicated to Armenian composer Komitas and to the memory of the Armenian genocide.

Publications

Translations into English

Legacy and memory

One of the main streets of Yerevan's Kanaker-Zeytun District is named after Sevak. School #123 of Yerevan is named after Paruyr Sevak. On 2018, the third series of Dram banknotes were printed, featuring Sevak on the 1000 Dram note.

In popular culture