BIRTH OF TIGRAN HAKHUMIAN (January 17, 1894)

Translator and literary critic Tigran Hakhumian has left an important legacy of translated works. He was born in Yerevan on January 17, 1894. He graduated from the royal school of Baku in 1912 and in 1917 he completed his studies in Law and History-Philology at the University of Moscow. The same year, he settled in Tiflis, where he worked in the newsrooms of the “Zhoghovrdi dzayn” and “Mshak” newspapers until 1920.

After the sovietization of Georgia and the closure of “Mshak” in 1921, Hakhumian returned to Yerevan. Thereafter, he worked for the main committee of political education at the Ministry of Education, the “Majgal” and “Khorhrdayin Hayastan” newspapers, and then he joined the newsroom of “Verelk.” At the same time, in 1923-1931, he worked as a lawyer.

Along with his journalistic and legal work, he carried out literary activities, which later became his mainstay. “Poems,” a collection of his poetical work, was published in 1923; in 1931, the Gabriel Sundukian state theater of Yerevan staged the play “The Wretched.” His literary and teaching work became more important in the 1930s. In 1934, Hakhumian joined the Writers’ Union and in 1939 he was decorated with the “Order of Honor”, followed by the title of Distinguished Artist of Armenia. In 1944-45, he published two volumes based on his research on famous Russian writers Anton Chekhov and Alexander Griboyedov.

Hakhumian has penned fifteen plays, some of which were staged in theaters of Yerevan, Tiflis, Baku, Rostov and Leninakan (Gyumri). His translation production has been particularly vast. Along with other works, he has translated 99 plays from the Russian. In 1943-48, he taught at the Khachatur Abovian pedagogical institute of Yerevan, the Yerevan State University and the Valery Brusov institute of Russian and Foreign Languages. In 1951, he defended his dissertation on the “Dramaturgy of Derenik Demirjian” and received a degree of doctoral candidate in philological studies. In 1961, he was bestowed the title of professor.

He has published two volumes of literary articles and memoirs in Russian (in 1965 and 1970), whereas his valuable memoirs were published posthumously in 1987.

Tigran Hakhumian passed away in Yerevan on March 25, 1973.