Zabel Yesayan
Encyclopedia
Zabel Yesayan (born in Uskudar
, Constantinople
, Ottoman Turkey February 4, 1878 - died Siberia
, USSR 1943) was a famous Armenian novelist, poet, writer, and teacher.
during the height of the Russo-Turkish war. That night the Russian army reached San Stefano, now known has Yeşilköy
. The house she was born into was a reddish, two-story wooden structure. She attended the local Surp Haç Tbrevank school (a school which is still in operation today). She managed to study literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. After getting inspired by the French Romantic movement and the Armenian literary
scene, she began her prolific writing career. Her first prose poem ("Night Song") appeared in Arshak Chobanian periodical Tsaghik (Flower) in 1895. She went on the publish short stories, literary essays, articles, and translations (in both French and Armenian) in such periodicals as Mercure de France, Massis, Anahit, and Arevelian Mamoul (Eastern Press).
After the Young Turk Revolution
in 1908, Zabel Yesayan returned to Constantinople
. In 1909 she went to Cilicia
and published a series of articles in connection with the Adana massacres
. The tragic fate of the Armenians in Cilicia
is also the subject of her book Averagneru Mech (Among Ruins; Constantinople 1911), the novella The Curse (1911), and the short stories "Safieh" (1911), and "The New Bride" (1911).
After being the only female put on the list of deportees during the Armenian genocide
, she managed to escape to Tbilisi
.
In 1918 she worked in the Middle East organizing the relocation of refugees and orphans. To this period belong the novellas Verchin Pajagi (The Last Cup), and Hokis Aksoryal (My Soul Exiled; 1919), where she exposes the many injustices she witnessed. Her support of Soviet Armenia was wholehearted, and in the novel Retreating Forces (1923) she describes the social and political conditions of her time. She visited Soviet Armenia in 1926 and shortly thereafter published her impression in Prometheus Unchained (Marseilles, 1928). In 1933 she established herself in Soviet Armenia and in 1934 she took part in the first Soviet Writers' Union congress in Moscow
. To this period belong the novella Shirt of Fire (Yerevan, 1934; translated into Russian in 1936), and her first autobiographical book Silihdari Bardezneri (The Gardens of Silihdar; Yerevan, 1935). She began to teach French and Armenian literature
During the Great Purge
, she was abruptly accused of nationalism
and died of unknown circumstances in Siberia
. It is said, but not entirely confirmed, that she was drowned and died in exile sometime in 1943.
Lara Aharonian, founder of the Women's Resource Center of Armenia, and Talin Suciyan, Yerevan correspondent for the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos
directed an independent documentary film about her titled Finding Zabel Yesayan. It was released in collaboration with Utopiana with debut on March 7, 2009.
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
, Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, Ottoman Turkey February 4, 1878 - died Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, USSR 1943) was a famous Armenian novelist, poet, writer, and teacher.
Biography
Zabel Yesayan was born on the night of February 4, 1878 as Zabel Hovhannessian, daughter of Mkrtich Hovhannessian in the Silihdar neighborhood of UskudarÜsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
during the height of the Russo-Turkish war. That night the Russian army reached San Stefano, now known has Yeşilköy
Yesilköy
Yeşilköy is a neighborhood of the Bakırköy municipality of Istanbul, Turkey.It is located along the Marmara Sea about 11 kilometers west of Istanbul's historic city center...
. The house she was born into was a reddish, two-story wooden structure. She attended the local Surp Haç Tbrevank school (a school which is still in operation today). She managed to study literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. After getting inspired by the French Romantic movement and the Armenian literary
Armenian literature
-Early literature:Armenian literature begins about 406 with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop.Isaac, the Catholicos of Armenia, formed a school of translators who were sent to Edessa, Athens, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea in Cappadocia, and elsewhere, to procure...
scene, she began her prolific writing career. Her first prose poem ("Night Song") appeared in Arshak Chobanian periodical Tsaghik (Flower) in 1895. She went on the publish short stories, literary essays, articles, and translations (in both French and Armenian) in such periodicals as Mercure de France, Massis, Anahit, and Arevelian Mamoul (Eastern Press).
After the Young Turk Revolution
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional Era...
in 1908, Zabel Yesayan returned to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. In 1909 she went to Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
and published a series of articles in connection with the Adana massacres
Adana massacre
The Adana massacre occurred in Adana Province, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. An massacre of Armenian Christians in the city of Adana amidst governmental upheaval resulted in a series of anti-Armenian pogroms throughout the district...
. The tragic fate of the Armenians in Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
is also the subject of her book Averagneru Mech (Among Ruins; Constantinople 1911), the novella The Curse (1911), and the short stories "Safieh" (1911), and "The New Bride" (1911).
After being the only female put on the list of deportees during the Armenian genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
, she managed to escape to Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
.
In 1918 she worked in the Middle East organizing the relocation of refugees and orphans. To this period belong the novellas Verchin Pajagi (The Last Cup), and Hokis Aksoryal (My Soul Exiled; 1919), where she exposes the many injustices she witnessed. Her support of Soviet Armenia was wholehearted, and in the novel Retreating Forces (1923) she describes the social and political conditions of her time. She visited Soviet Armenia in 1926 and shortly thereafter published her impression in Prometheus Unchained (Marseilles, 1928). In 1933 she established herself in Soviet Armenia and in 1934 she took part in the first Soviet Writers' Union congress in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. To this period belong the novella Shirt of Fire (Yerevan, 1934; translated into Russian in 1936), and her first autobiographical book Silihdari Bardezneri (The Gardens of Silihdar; Yerevan, 1935). She began to teach French and Armenian literature
During the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
, she was abruptly accused of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and died of unknown circumstances in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. It is said, but not entirely confirmed, that she was drowned and died in exile sometime in 1943.
Lara Aharonian, founder of the Women's Resource Center of Armenia, and Talin Suciyan, Yerevan correspondent for the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos
Agos
Agos is an Armenian weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. It was established on 5 April 1996. Today, it has a circulation of over 9,000. It has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an on-line English edition...
directed an independent documentary film about her titled Finding Zabel Yesayan. It was released in collaboration with Utopiana with debut on March 7, 2009.