Avedis Aharonian, known as the “singer of Armenian sorrow,” was one of the popular names of Eastern Armenian literature in the first half of the twentieth century. He was equally noted for his active participation in the revolutionary movement and the first Republic of Armenia.
Levon Shant was perhaps the most important playwright in the history of Armenian theater, but he was primarily a seasoned and accomplished educator. He was also an active participant in the Armenian liberation movement.
Robert Zildjian became the founder of Sabian Cymbals, the second-largest manufacturer of cymbals in the world, when he was almost sixty-years-old. His cymbals dramatically increased their sales after Ringo Starr used them in 1964, during the Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
French-Armenian composer Georges Garvarentz was a prolific author of music for films and musical collaborator and brother-in-law of Charles Aznavour. He was born Diran Garvarentz on April 1, 1932, in Athens, Greece, to a family of Armenian immigrants.
Yeghishe Charents worked at the Armenian State Publishing House and developed a prolific editorial program, His works have been published many times, and statues, streets and a museum perpetuate his name in Armenia.
Yervand Lalayan belonged to a generation of scholars who, starting in the mid-nineteenth century, was instrumental in the discovery and scholarly study of the Armenian presence in its historical territory, and left a huge legacy of cultural studies to the next generations.
Astrophysics in Armenia became linked to the world-famous name of Victor Hambardzumian. One of his students would become an important name in cosmic astronomy. Grigor Gurzadyan was born on October 15, 1922, in Baghdad (Iraq), the child of survivors from the Armenian Genocide. He emigrated to Soviet Armenia with his family when he was just a child. Gurzadyan’s most important achievement in the design of orbital telescopes was the series “Orion,” which contributed to important scientific results.
Hagop Oshagan was one of the most important novelists and literary critics in twentieth-century Armenian literature. In the last twenty-five years of his life, he put together a prodigious amount of literary production, including several lengthy novels.
Sose, the wife of famous fedayee Serop Aghpyur, was one of the most famous names that transcended history and remained as a symbol of pride and self-sacrifice. She was born in the village of Teghud, in the region of Sasoun, in 1868. In 1881, at the early age of thirteen, she married Serop Vartanian, from the nearby village of Sokhourt.
Aram Manoukian was one of the main protagonists in the foundation of the first independent Republic of Armenia in 1918.
Born as Sergei (Sarkis) Hovhannisian in the village of Zeyva (nowadays David Bek, district of Kapan in Siunik) in 1879, he graduated from the Diocesan School of Shushi, in Gharabagh, one of the main Armenian schools in the region.
