7 Things to Learn from Armenian Classic Hovhannes Tumanyan
Hovhannes Tumanyan is an Armenian classic. He lived at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. During his 53 years of life, he lived in a very historically important time for Armenians. He saw the results of Abdul Hamidian massacres as a beginning of Armenophobia in the Caucasus, 1915 Armenian Genocide, and witnessed how Armenians, after six centuries of struggle and liberation movements, were finally able to recover Armenian statehood in 1918, which remained till 1920 and then became a part of the Soviet Union. Being a father of 10, a people’s person, poet, and humanist, Tumanyan had a great impact not only on Armenians but also on other Caucasian nations.
There is a lot to learn from Tumanyan. He wasn’t a perfect person just because no one is, but he was very close to being identified as such.
Being A Good Parent
Tumanyan was a good father and had a great family. He had 10 children; Arpik, Seda, Ashkhen, Tamar, Anush, Artavazd, Nvart, Areg, Mushekh, and Hamlik. Nvart, in her memoirs, wrote that Tumanyan used to pick the names for his children with special attention. “I remember he was looking in history books to find the name of the newborn girl, and I think it is the name of a 16th-century princess. Levon Shant (another Armenian classic) liked that name and named his heroine of the “Ancient Gods” by that name (Seda, Princess Mariam’s niece). Three of our names are taken from Raffi’s (Armenian classic) “Samvel.” Tumanyans friend, Armenian writer, and folklorist Ghazaros Aghayan gave names to Mushegh, Ashkhen, Nvard. Areg. The father took the names of the other boys, Artavazd and Hamlik, from his plays” (Օհանյան, 2012).
Being a Humanist and People’s Person
Tumanyan was a big humanist and Armenian people’s person. As a result of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Armenians’ brutal killings by today’s Azeris, many Armenians were displaced from their homeland. They were forced to run away to Eastern Armenia. Tumanyan was helping these people by different means. There is a famous event as a result of which Tumanyan came to be known as Poet of All Armenians. Nvart, in her memoirs, says, “The Catholicos of All Armenians did not like the fact that dad [Tumanyan] made the Catholicos’s residence home to a refuge. The next day he calls dad and demands an explanation for that voluntary act as he had forbidden it. The explanation does not satisfy the Catholicos, and he angrily reminds. “Do you know that I am the Catholicos of All Armenians?” The father answers. “And I am the Poet of All Armenians” (Օհանյան, 2012). Since that day, Tumanyan is also known as the Poet of All Armenians. Empathy, care, and a kind mind and heart are true characteristics of Tumanyan that we can learn from him.
Being a Long-term Thinker
Being a good person is not enough to help the nation continuously develop and move forward. Countries should create institutions that impact society positively and serve as a good tool in the nation-building process. Tumanyan was all for institutional solutions. Considering that Armenians, through centuries-long of struggle, finally were able to recover their statehood in 1918, Tumanyan’s points make more sense. He wasn’t only a person of a good word but also of action. Tumanyan was the chairman of the USSR Writers’ Union, the chairman of the Armenian Relief Committee, the Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers, and the Haigazian Society chairman. Through these means, he was trying to create institutions that would serve Armenians in the long-term. In 1917, he said, “It is necessary to unite Armenian scientists, create science in the Armenian language and a circle of Armenian scientists — the heart of science, the Armenian Academy” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). Now, Armenia has the National Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he also said, “It is necessary to protect the Armenian literature nationally, to connect the writers with their work, and to put an end to this unhealthy and disgraceful situation once and for all. This is why the Haigazian Society is founded” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). Based on that concept, Armenia currently has the Armenian Writers Union.
Being a Worshiper of the Beauty
The 20th century was a century of the collapse of many empires and the emergence of new political concepts. Everything was over-politicized. The Russian Empire that Eastern Armenia was a part of collapsed, and the Armenian first republic was founded. There were three main political ideologies: monarchy, socialism, and liberalism. The Armenian first republic was founded on the concepts of liberal democracy, but Russia was moving from monarchy to socialism. What do you believe in was the question that divided people into different groups. Tumanyan’s approach was unique. In 1918, he said, “Here is Christianity, it is so divine for me, but I hesitate to call myself a Christian. The idea of a fair distribution of human labor and earnings is so sacred and sublime to me, but I will never call myself a socialist” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). “If he is a clergyman and is a fanatic and memorizes the sentences of the Gospel, which have nothing to do with his heart, with his inner man. By saying don’t kill, he can always make an inquisition. If he is a socialist, he knows by heart what Marx and Engels said, but still, he does not know to whom, where, what he should say. He utters their words and sentences, and in the end, individual or mass terror are his ideals, as the apotheosis of his inner incapacity. Finally, no matter how much I respect and love the latter [Christians and socialists], we are a kind of people of spiritually different climates. While the center of worship for one is morality, the ideal of the other is a free and just society, the object of worship for me and others like me is the beauty” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985).
Turn Your Back on the Ruling Elites and Look at The Common People
The three newly established independent countries (Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan) had major disagreements while negotiating regarding territories. For example, Azerbaijan, to this day, illegally occupies fully Armenian Artsakh. Along with that, nations that never were enemies like Georgians and Armenians had territorial claims from each other. A short “war” happened. Tumanyan firmly believes that Armenians are not enemies to Georgians and vice versa and if anyone doubts that, they are unfamiliar with the historical path of Armenians or Georgians. He blamed governing elites and claimed that “… all fights and massacres that happened from ancient dictatorships to democracies were always imposed by ruling and governing elites. And it has always been done against the will and desire of common people” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). In 1919 as a response to a prominent Georgian writer, Levan Davidovich Tumanyan writes, “This is the reality, my precious Levan Davidovich. The hostility created between our people is artificial, while the feeling of love and brotherhood is natural and much stronger than we think. You, too, look with fear at the abyss that the ruling elites have dug in between our peoples. But time has given the world a new slogan — in such cases, turn your back on the ruling elites and look at the common people, the generality of each nation, and your fear will pass immediately” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985).
Believe in People, not in Political Leaders or Elites
Tumanyan was a firm believer in people. He claimed that if the governments weaken and people become stronger, we would live in a better world. In 1921, Tumanyan wrote, “I think it is a lie to say that people deserve their governments. On the contrary, governments generally do not deserve their people, and there can be very few governments worthy of their people, and that are with their people. For example, like the poet is. The poet may not be big enough to include the whole nation or be worthy of his people, but he is always with his people. (This explains the constant quarrel that has always existed between the rulers in general and me)” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985).
Fight Against Hate Speech and Anonymous Defamation
In the 21st century, we think that it is now that the press is in a bad state, and there are many fake accounts in social media spreading lies and slander about others. However, this tradition has very long roots and touched Tumanyan too. An anonymous person named Katon claimed that Tumanyan was a secret detective and published the same things in newspapers under several other fake names to prove his point. A person named Drambyan insisted that Tumanyan was engaged in plagiarism, and Tumanyan’s “The Bird” is literally taken from Haykuni’s “Ashegh-Ayhlor” fairy tale. Tumanyan responded to both of these false allegations. After presenting plausible arguments proving his points, Tumanyan said, “Writers and poets will reveal not only your fake names but also your false souls and thoughts, which are hidden more deeply” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). He continued and said, “There is no moral law for one person to speak but at the same time a few to take action under different fake names. One fake name writes something, then another comes as a witness, and the third confirms that as if there are three people engaged in it. One should have one face and one name. But when one attacks somebody, slanders and swears at him, casts doubt on him and then hides under fake names, then he runs away from the answer and the punishment” («Սովետական գրող,» 1985). This is a discourse from 1911, and the issue is still present.
After all, Tumanyan was a person who, by following his heart and soul, did his best to help people, write stories and poetry that would touch them, reach peace between nations, and make things better by staying persistent and seeking the best solutions. He is a Poet of All Armenians and a classic with his unique place in world literature.
*All the translations from Armenian to English are done by Margarita Dadyan.
References
«Սովետական գրող» հրատարակչություն(1985), Հովհաննես Թումանյան. ընտիր երկեր հատոր երկրորդ։
Օհանյան, Գ. (2012) Հայ գրականության քրեստոմատիա. Հրազդան։ ISBN 99930–4–449–0
