Zareh Yaldizciyan (10 May 192420 February 2007), Զարէհ Եալտըզճեան, better known by his pen name Zahrad ( hy, Զահրատ), was a poet who lived in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and wrote poems in the

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...

Biography

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent, Zahrad was born in the Nişantaşı district of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. His father, Movses, had been a jurist, adviser, and translator for the Ottoman Foreign Ministry. However, he had lost his father at the age of three. His mother, Ankine, was from the district of

Samatya Samatya ( el, Ψαμάθεια, pr. ''Psamatheia''; hy, Սամաթիա) is a quarter of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara Sea, and borders to the west on the neighborhood of Yedikule (the "Castle of the Seven Towers" ...

. Zahrad grew up with his maternal grandfather Levon Vartanyan. In 1942 he graduated from Özel Pangaltı Ermeni Lisesi, the local Mechitarist Armenian lyceum. He attended the Faculty University of Medicine in Istanbul but left in order to work. Due to the fear that his family wouldn't appreciate the fact that he wanted to be a poet, he changed his pen name to "Zahrad". In November 1963, he married Anayis Antreasian.

Legacy

Levon Ananyan , image = Levon Ananyan.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Levon Ananyan, Yerevan, 2010 , birth_name = , birth_date = , birth_p ...

, the president of the

Writers Union of Armenia The Writers' Union of Armenia was founded in August 1934, simultaneously with the USSR Union of Writers and as a component part of the USSR Union. 1930s The Constituent Assembly was held during 1 August - 5 August, after which the Armenian delegat ...

, characterized Zahrad as "the huge oak tree of diasporan poetry, whose literary heritage had a deep and stable influence upon modern poetry of not only the diaspora, but also Armenia." Writer and journalist Rober Haddeciyan is quoted as saying, "all the roads taken by our poems don't lead to Rome, but to Zahrad". His poetry has been translated into 22 languages. President of Armenia

Robert Kocharian Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh fro ...

has awarded Zahrad with the Movses Khorenatsi medal for his contribution to Armenian literature and culture.

Works

* «Մեծ քաղաքը» (''Big City'', Istanbul, 1960) * «Գունաւոր սահմաններ» (''Colored Borders'', Istanbul, 1968) * «Բարի Երկինք» (''Kind Sky'', Istanbul, 1971) * «Կանանչ հող» (''Green Soil'',

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 1976) * «Մէկ քարով երկու գարուն» (''Two Springs with One Stone'', Istanbul, 1989) * «Մաղ մը ջուր» (''A Sieve of Water'', Istanbul, 1995) * «Ծայրը ծայրին» (''A Tight Fit'', Istanbul, 2001) * «Ջուրը պատէն վեր» (''Water Up the Wall'', Istanbul, 2004) *«Մարկոս եւ Մարկոս» (''Marc and Marc'', ?, ?)

Notes and references

{{Authority control 1924 births 2007 deaths Writers from Istanbul 20th-century Armenian poets Turkish people of Armenian descent Armenian male poets 20th-century male writers Burials at Şişli Armenian Cemetery