Jivani (; 1846–1909), born Serob Stepani Levonian (; also known as Serovbe Stepani Benkoyan, ), was an

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n '' ashugh'' (

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

) and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

History

Jivani was born in Kartsakhi, near

Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki ( ka, ახალქალაქი, tr ; ) is a town in Georgia (country), Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He became an orphan when he was 8, his uncle looked after him. He learned music composition and performance on kemanche and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

with the support of master Ghara-Ghazar (). In 1866 along with gusan Sazain (Aghajan) Jivani moved to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, where he continued his musical activities. The further development of Jivani's art is connected to

Alexandropol Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

(

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

) and its musical culture. He lived and worked there in 1868–1895. In Alexandropol he headed a circle of fellow gusan-singers, and was awarded by the honorary title of ''ustabashi'' (leading master). Jivani had concerts all over

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

, including

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

and

. In 1895, he returned to

Jivani was an author of more than 800 songs, written in romantic, ironical or realistic styles. He had the good knowledge of 19th century

Armenian literature Armenian literature (), produced in the Armenian language, has existed in written form since the 5th century CE, when the Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots and the first original works of Armenian literature were composed. Prior ...

, and was influenced by it. He used clear forms of

Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...

, avoided of foreign transliterations. His songs were mainly devoted to the problems of social protest, poverty and lawlessness ("The Life in the Village", "Worker", etc.). In his songs Jivani condemned oppressors, represented the struggle of

Armenian people Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

against foreign rule, sang about the brotherhood of people. Many of Jivani's songs ("The Unhappy Days", "Mother", "At this night", "A good comrade", "I am an apricot tree", "Look at them") became popular. The first compilation of Jivani's poems was published in 1885. His music was performed or used by Kristapor Kara-Murza,

Komitas Vardapet Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas (; 22 October 1935), was an Ottoman-Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of musi ...

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

, and many others,

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

and

Valery Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov ( rus, Вале́рий Я́ковлевич Брю́сов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbrʲusəf, a=Valyeriy Yakovlyevich Bryusov.ru.vorb.oga; – 9 October 1924) was a Russian poet, prose writer, drama ...

were interested in his poetry. He is recognized as the "greatest Armenian ''ashugh'' of the 19th century".

Memorials

Ashough Jivani's House-Museum opened in 2016 in Kartsakhi.

References

External links

Djivan's Poems (translated by Alice Stone Blackwell)

Jivani at Armeniapedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jivani 1846 births 1909 deaths People from Samtskhe–Javakheti People from Tiflis Governorate Georgian people of Armenian descent 19th-century Armenian poets Armenian composers Burials at Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi Armenian male poets 19th-century Armenian male writers 19th-century Armenian male singers Armenian people from the Russian Empire Poets from the Russian Empire