DEATH OF ATABEK KHENKOYAN

Atabek Khenkoyan, also known with the pseudonym of Khenko–Aper, was considered one of the best authors of Eastern Armenian children literature after Ghazaros Aghayan and Hovhannes Tumanian.

He was born on October 19, 1870, in the village of Gharaboya (now Khenkoyan), in the district of Pambak. He first studied at the parish school, and in 1880 he continued his studies in Alexandropol [ Cureently Gumri]. After graduating from high school, in 1890 he started working as a teacher for the next 35 years in different places of Armenia.

In 1911 he moved to Tiflis, and in 1923 the Ministry of Education of Armenia invited him to continue working in Yerevan. He wrote various textbooks for Armenian schools.

He was a prolific author of children literature, and became well-known as a talented writer of proverbs, using both Armenian and non-Armenian sources. He contributed to many newspapers and journals of the time. He published about 120 volumes of original and translated poetry for children. Among the most important were The Fox and the Bear (1910), The Thief Goat (1911), Proverbs (1917), etcetera.

Atapek Khenkoyan was awarded the titles of Emeritus Teacher of Armenia and Emeritus Writer of Armenia in 1932. He passed away on October 8, 1935, in Yerevan, and was buried in the Gomidas Pantheon. The children library of Yerevan and a school in Gyumri are named after him.