Moushegh Ishkhan (; born as ''Jenderejian'', 1913

Sivrihisar Sivrihisar is a municipality and district of Eskişehir Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,748 km2, and its population is 20,087 (2022). Its elevation is . Location The town of Sivrihisar lies north of the historical site of Pessinus, at the f ...

- 12 June 1990

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

) was an

Armenian Diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

n poet, writer and educator.

Life and work

Moushegh Ishkhan was born in 1913 in Sivrihisar, a village near

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. Orphaned during the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

at the age of two, Ishkhan settled in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Receiving his elementary education locally, he moved to Cyprus where he attended the

Melkonian Educational Institute The Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) (; ) was an Armenian boarding school of high academic standard located in Nicosia, Cyprus. Established in 1926 by the Melkonian brothers, it was the only remaining boarding school servicing students of th ...

. After studying for two years at Melkonian, Ishkhan moved to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1930 where he attended Nshan Palandjian College. After his graduation in 1935, he became a teacher for three years. His first book of poems was published in 1936. He studied at the University of Brussels since 1938, but

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

interrupted his studies and in 1940 he returned to Beirut. Upon his return, he continued teaching at Nshan Palandjian College. He authored 17 books. He published plays, novels, and a series of textbooks on Armenian literature in addition to his well-known poetry. Yerevan school No. 5 named after Moushegh Ishkhan also has a museum dedicated to him.

Poetry

According to Ishkhan, in the absence of territory for

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

it is language that functions as the 'space' for imagining the nation: "The Armenian language is the home and haven where the wanderer can own roof and wall and nourishment...".THE REIMAGINATION OF THE AMERICAN-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY, 1965-85, by Nareg.com

References

External links

Ishkhan's biographyIshkhan profile on hamazkayin.com including many other famous Armenian authorsIshkhan's poetry in ArmenianLes Poèmes Arméniens Traduits par Louise Kiffer-Sarian (fr.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishkhan 1913 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Lebanese poets Lebanese people of Armenian descent 20th-century Armenian male writers Syrian emigrants to Lebanon Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Syrian expatriates Expatriates in Cyprus