Armen Dorian

An amateur sketch of Armen Dorian

Armen Dorian (Armenian: Արմեն Տորեան; 28 January 1892 1915) was a renowned Armenian poet, teacher, and editor who lived in the Ottoman Empire. Dorian studied in the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. Much of his poetry was written in French and Armenian. In 1915, Dorian was arrested and killed during the Armenian Genocide at the age of 23.

Life

Of Armenian descent, Armen Dorian was born Hrachia Surenian in Sinop in the Kastamonu Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire on 28 January 1892.[1][2][3] Dorian moved to the capital Constantinople where he received his early education at the Pangaltı Mekhitarist Armenian School.[1] After finishing his education, Dorian traveled to France in 1911 and continued his studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris.[4][3] He joined the French literary scene and founded the French newspaperL'Arène.[3][5] In 1913, he and other prominent French poets founded the pantheist literary school.[1][4][5] It was said of Dorian that "symbolists during that time in France had never seen a youth with such a fervent vigor with a majestic writing style that incorporated such beautiful dreams..."[3] Immediately after his graduation from the Sorbonne in 1914, Dorian returned to Constantinople where he became a teacher and taught French and Armenian literature.[6][3]

Death

In the middle of the night, on 24 April 1915, Armen Dorian was arrested while teaching.[5] The arrests were part of a larger scheme of the Armenian Genocide which sought to deport Armenian notables from the capital to the interior provinces of the Ottoman Empire.[7]

Armen Dorian was initially sent to Çankırı where he and other Armenian intellectuals were imprisoned.[8][9] He was removed from prison and murdered en route to Ankara.[5][9][10][4] He was 23 years old.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gocek, Fatma Muge. Richard G. Hovannisian, ed. Reconstructing the Turkish Historiography on the Armenian Massacres and Deaths of 1915. Transaction Publishers. pp. 209–10. ISBN 1412827671.
  2. Tuğlacı, Pars (1992). Ermeni edebiyatından seçkiler (in Turkish). Istanbul: Cem Yayınevi. ISBN 9754064016.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Արմեն Տորյան (in Armenian). Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Göçek, Fatma Müge (2011). The transformation of Turkey: redefining state and society from the Ottoman Empire to the modern era. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 220. ISBN 1848856113.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Zarakolu, Ragip. "BASIN DA GEÇMİŞİNE SANSÜR UYGULUYOR". HaberRuzgari (in Turkish).
  6. Lapçinciyan, Teotoros (1919). Houshartsun nahadoug mdavoraganouti (in Armenian). p. 29.
  7. Berrett, Jacques Derogy ; preface by Gérard Chaliand ; translated by A.M. (1990). Resistance and revenge: the Armenian assassination of the Turkish leaders responsible for the 1915 massacres and deportations. New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction Publishers. pp. 123. ISBN 0887383386.
  8. Kuyumjian, Rita Soulahian (2010). Archeology of madness : Komitas, portrait of an Armenian icon. London: Taderon Press by arrangement with the Gomidas Institute. ISBN 1903656214.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Smith, Walter George (1971). "Journal of a Journey to the Near East". Armenian Review 24 (1): 24.
  10. Balakian, Grigoris (2010). Peter Balakian, ed. Armenian Golgotha : a memoir of the Armenian genocide, 19151918 (1st Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 69. ISBN 1400096774.

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