Hovhannes Shiraz facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hovhannes Shiraz
Born	Onik Tadevosi Karapetyan 27 April 1914 Alexandropol, Russian Empire
Died	24 March 1984 (aged 69) Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Komitas Pantheon
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Armenian
Genre	Lyric poetry
Spouse	Silva Kaputikyan, Shushanik Aristakesyan
Children	Ara Shiraz, Sipan Shiraz, Vanand Shiraz, Masis Shiraz, Astghik Shiraz, Ani Shiraz, Arax Shiraz, Hayk-Tadevos Shiraz

Hovhannes Shiraz (Armenian: Հովհաննես Շիրազ) was a famous Armenian poet. He was born on April 27, 1914, and passed away on March 14, 1984, at the age of 69. His real name was Onik Tadevosi Karapetyan.

About Hovhannes Shiraz

Shiraz was born in a city called Alexandropol, which is now known as Gyumri in Armenia. His mother, Astghik, became a widow right before he was born because of the Armenian genocide. This was a terrible event where many Armenians lost their lives.

Shiraz grew up in great poverty. His very first work, a poem called Beginning of Spring, was published in 1935. A writer named Atrpet gave him the special nickname "Shiraz". He said that the young poet's works were as beautiful and fresh as the roses of Shiraz, a city in Iran known for its flowers and poets. Another idea for his pen name is "Shirak azn," meaning "a child of Shirak," which is the region he came from.

Education and Main Works

In 1937, Hovhannes Shiraz started studying Armenian Literature at Yerevan State University. He continued his studies there until 1941. He also attended the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow.

Shiraz published the first part of his important collection of poems, Knar Hayastani (which means Lyre of Armenia), in 1958. The next parts came out in 1965 and 1974. These books contain some of his best and most well-known poems.

Shiraz mainly wrote and published poetry. He created many popular poems about his country and about love. Some of these are "Ani," "My Mother," "May my love remain a secret," and "My Holy Homeland." He also wrote a long poem called "The Armenian Dante-esque" about the Armenian genocide. This topic was not allowed to be openly discussed in the Soviet Union at the time. The first version of this poem was written in 1941. Only small parts of it were published in Armenia during his lifetime. The full poem, which has over 8,000 lines, was finally published in 1990 in Yerevan.

Shiraz was buried in the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan. This is a special cemetery where many important Armenians are laid to rest.

Family Life

Hovhannes Shiraz was married twice. His first wife was the famous Armenian poet Silva Kaputikyan. Their son, Ara Shiraz, became a sculptor. Shiraz had seven more children with his second wife, Shushanik Shiraz. One of their sons, Sipan Shiraz, also became a poet.

Places Named After Him

A school in Yerevan (school #169) and a street in Julfa, Isfahan, are named after Hovhannes Shiraz. You can also visit the Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum in a historic building in Gyumri.

What Was Shiraz Like?

Shiraz was known for his great sense of humor. In 1963, the American writer John Steinbeck visited Shiraz's home in Yerevan. Steinbeck later wrote that "men are closest together when they laugh together," and he remembered laughing a lot with Shiraz.

Other famous poets, like Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Alexander Gitovich, wrote poems dedicated to Shiraz.

Shiraz was a poet who often spoke out against the government. He was very popular with the people of Soviet Armenia. He spent his life fighting against the unfair leaders of the Soviet system. Once, when he was told he would receive a special award called the Order of Lenin, he asked, "And what do they [the Soviet government] want in return? To buy my silence?" This shows he didn't want to be silenced or controlled.

His Poetry Style

Shiraz wrote about forty books of poetry and also translated works by others. His poems are known for their rich vocabulary and emotional style. He used words and phrases from everyday speech and folk tales, which made his poetry a very important part of Armenian literature. Many people consider his works to be masterpieces.

The poet Paruyr Sevak once said that "The modern Armenian poetry has risen on the ridge of Shiraz." Another famous writer, William Saroyan, wrote, "Shiraz is a great talent, we should be proud and consider as a great honor that we personally know him." The poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko added that Shiraz built his poems with Armenian "tuff of emotions," referring to a type of stone found in Armenia.

Here is an example of his poetry:

(Translated from Armenian by Daniel Janoyan)

Shiraz's poems were known throughout the former USSR and in other countries. His works were translated by famous poets like Arseny Tarkovsky and Nikolay Aseev. Andrey Dementyev noted that Shiraz, like Sergey Yesenin, used many metaphors, which makes his poems beautiful but also hard to translate.

During a meeting with Soviet writers, an Indian writer named Bhisham Sahni showed a journal with poems by Hovhannes Shiraz to show what kind of poetry he liked best.

Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum

Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum in Gyumri

The Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum is located on Varpetats Street in Gyumri. This house was given to Shiraz by Soviet Armenian officials in July 1983. It was built in 1886 and used to belong to a very rich person. During the time of the Soviet Union, it was used as a storage building.

After a big earthquake in Armenia in 1988, the plans to fix up the museum were stopped. Instead, eight families who had lost their homes found shelter there. In 2003, the Armenian government officially made it a house-museum.

Films About Shiraz

• "Hovhannes Shiraz: A Documentary" (2005), directed by Levon Mkrtchyan
• "On the Path to Eternity" (Armenfilm, 1983), directed by Levon Mkrtchyan

Images for kids

• 

  Hovhannes Shiraz's tombstone in Komitas Pantheon

See also

In Spanish: Hovhannes Shirás para niños