BIRTH OF DAVIT HOVHANNESS

Davit Hovhannes (Hovhannisian) was born on February 17, 1945, in Yerevan. He was the son of poet Hrachia Hovhannisian. He graduated from the Krupskaya high school in 1962 and then from the Faculty of Philology at Yerevan State University. He worked in Armenia’s periodical press and “ArmenFilm” studio and also lectured on history of ancient and foreign literature at several universities of Armenia. He was a member of the Writers’ Union of Armenia since 1975. In 1980-1990 he conducted the monthly literary program “Nork” at the first channel of Armenian TV, and the weekly program “Half Hour with Davit Hovhannes” in 2006-2008. He was the chair of the board of “Arevik” Publishing House. He translated works of Russian, Ukrainian, and American classical poets.

The author of around 25 poetry collections, including children’s literature, Hovhannes published his first poem in 1965 and his first collection, Crown of Songs, in 1974. He belonged to the current of “young poets” that appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with Henrik Edoyan, Artem Harutiunian, Armen Martirosian, Hovhannes Grigorian, and Slavik Chilyan. Among his better-known collections of poetry were Lost Past (1979), New Life (1983), Crises (1986), Mother Armenia (1988), Disaster Zone (1989), Chronicle (1996), New Chronicle (2007), etcetera. He was also known for his commentary, essays, radio plays, and collections of translated poetry.

He was a member of the National Assembly from 1999 to 2003. He won the State Prize of Armenia in 2007 for his book New Chronicle and three years later he was granted the title of Emeritus Cultural Worker of Armenia. He passed away in Yerevan on July 19, 2016.