Regina Tadevosi Ghazaryan (; April 17, 1915 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

– November 6, 1999 in

) 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 painter and public figure. Known as a friend and benefactor of

Yeghishe Charents Yeghishe Charents (; , 1897 – November 27, 1937) was an Armenian poet, writer and public activist. Charents' literary subject matter ranged from his experiences in the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and frequently Armenia and Arme ...

, she is credited with saving many of the poet's manuscripts during the regime of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Biography

Ghazaryan was born in a family of an

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 ...

survivor from

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

and a noble mother from Yerevan (Khorasanyans). She met the poet Yeghishe Charents in 1930. At the age of fifteen, Ghazaryan, an orphan, had "in some sort been adopted by Charents as both an intimate friend and a witness to his solitary hours". In 1937, from the prison cell Charents had secretly informed his wife Izabella that she should trust all of his writings only to a family friend, Ghazaryan, and that she will save them from being destroyed. After Charents's death Ghazaryan hid and preserved many of his manuscripts (7000 lines in total including "Requiem to Komitas", "The Nameless", "Songs of Autumn" and "Navzike") in the garden. As a military pilot she participated in

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 ...

. She finished Yerevan Fine Arts Institute in 1951. On 11 March 1954,

Anastas Mikoyan Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (; , ; ; – 21 October 1978) was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and Bolshevik revolutionary who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union. As a member of th ...

called for the rehabilitation of Charents in a speech in Yerevan. The speech inspired Ghazaryan to remove Charents's manuscripts from hiding. She granted them to the

Charents Museum of Literature and Arts The Charents Museum of Literature and Arts () is the largest repository of Armenian manuscripts and books encompassing the last three hundred years, located in Yerevan, Armenia. History Originally conceived in 1954 as the ''Museum of Literatur ...

. In 2009 a memorial plaque was inaugurated on the house at Baghramyan St. 33a, Yerevan where Ghazaryan lived and worked from 1961 to 1999. Ghazaryan's paintings are exhibited in various museums of Armenia, including the

National Gallery of Armenia The National Gallery of Armenia (, ) is the largest art museum in Armenia. Located on Yerevan's Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic Square, the museum has one of the most prominent locations in the Armenian capital. The NGA houses significant colle ...

. She was a member of the Painters' Union of Armenia.

Awards

* ''Honorary citizen of Yerevan'' (1995) * ''Renowned painter of Armenia'' (1985)

Works

* ''Charents'' (1966) * ''Aghavnadzor'' (1965) * ''Komitas'' (1969) * ''Aspetakan'' (1975) * ''Paruyr Sevak'' * ''Khaghagh tiezerk''Armenian concise encyclopedia, Vol. III, ''Ghazaryan Regina''

Personal exhibitions

* Yerevan (1967, 1987, 1988) *

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 ...

(1967) *

Ejmiatsin Vagharshapat ( ) is the 5th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin ...

(1967)

Books

* ''Charentsyan Nshkharner'' by Regina Ghazaryan (1998)

Publications

* Regina Ghazaryan, "Reminiscences about Charents" usher Charentsi masin Garun. Erevan, #1. 1987, pp. 67–75

References

External links

Memorial plaque to Regina Ghazaryan, who saved Charents' manuscripts, inaugurated in Yerevan

Биография

Вечно с Чаренцом // Республика Армения, 2009

AZG Armenian Daily - WAP-version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazaryan, Regina 1915 births 1999 deaths Artists from Yerevan 20th-century Armenian painters 20th-century Armenian women artists