Paruyr Sevak

Paruyr Sevak studied at Faculty of Armenian Philology, Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and Institute of Literature of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. The recorded working language is Armenian. Employment is recorded with Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, Armenian Society for Friendship and Foreign Relations with Foreign Countries and Grakan tert. Positions recorded include deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and lecturer. Distinctions recorded are Armenian SSR State Prize, Order of the Red Banner of Labour and Medal "For Distinguished Labour".

• Name — Paruyr Sevak Պարույր Սևակ • Birth Name — Paruyr Ghazaryan • Born — 24 January 1924 • Birthplace — Chanakhchi, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union • Died — 17 June 1971 • Place of death — Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union • Resting Place — Zangakatun, Armenia • Occupation — Poet • Period — 1940s–1970s • Notable Works — "We Are Few But We Are Called Armenians," "The Unsilenceable Belfry," "Man in a Palm," "Immortals Command" • Spouse — Maya Avagyan, Nelli Menagharishvili • Illustration — Sevak reading one of his most famous poems Live, live (Ապրե՜լ, ապրե՜լ)

Sevak was born Paruyr Ghazaryan in the village of Chanakhchi (now Zangakatun), Armenian SSR, Soviet Union to Rafael and Anahit Soghomonyan on January 24, 1924. His ancestors had migrated to Chanakhchi, a remote, mountainous village, from the village of Havtvan in Salmast (Salmas), Iran in 1828. Young Paruyr attended the village school, where he wrote his first poems and published them in the school wall newspaper. Sevak spent part of his childhood and adolescence in a location called Navchalu yayla near his native village; in his early writings, he signed his writings with 'Navchalu' as the location where they were written. In 1939, he became a student at the philological faculty of Yerevan State University. He graduated in 1945. The same year he started his postgraduate studies in Armenian literature at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences, which lasted until 1948. In 1951, Sevak went to Moscow to study at the Gorky Institute of World Literature.

• Illustration — Plaque marking the building where Paruyr Sevak lived on Kasyan Street in Yerevan After graduation from the Gorky Institute, Sevak worked there as a professor of translation in 1957–59, at the height of Nikita Khrushchev's Thaw. In 1959, he authored the long poem Anlr’eli zangakatunë (The Unsilenceable Belfry or The Incessant Bell-tower), a work dedicated to Armenian composer Komitas and to the memory of the Armenian genocide. In 1960, Sevak moved back to Yerevan where he resumed his prolific literary, scientific, and public career. He returned to the Abeghyan Institute, this time as a scientific researcher. In 1966, Sevak signed a petition supporting the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Soviet Armenia, alongside Martiros Saryan, Yervand Kochar, Hamo Sahyan, and other major Armenian cultural figures. From 1966 to 1971, Sevak served as secretary on the Board of the Writers Union of Armenia. In 1967, he became a doctor of philology after his dissertation defense. In 1968, Sevak was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR.

• Selected Poems. Translated with an introduction by Garig Basmadjian. Jerusalem: St. James Press, 1973. • Paruyr Sevak's Poetry: Select Translations from Armenian. Translated by Jack Aslanian. Yerevan: VMV-Print, 2011. • The Incessant Bell-tower. Translated by Svetlana Vardanian. Yerevan: Limush Press, 2015 (2nd revised ed.: 2017).

He was employed by Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, Armenian Society for Friendship and Foreign Relations with Foreign Countries, Grakan tert, Institute of Literature of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and Writers Union of Armenia. Recorded positions include deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and lecturer. He belonged to USSR Union of Writers.

Paruyr Sevak is recorded at birth as Պարույր Ռաֆայելի Ղազարյան. Recorded as having studied at Faculty of Armenian Philology, Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and Institute of Literature of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.