Sayat-Nova (redirected from Haroutiun Sayakian)

Sayat-Nova 

(pen name of Aruthin Sayadian). Born 1712 in Tbilisi; died there 1795. Armenian poet.

The son of an artisan, Sayat-Nova became renowned as a gusan (folk singer), composing songs in Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani. For a time, he lived at the court of Irakli II but was exiled as a result of his opposition to the aristocracy. He took vows as a priest and in 1768 retired to the Haghbat Monastery. He was brutally slain when Persian troops invaded Tbilisi.

Sayat-Nova’s poetry is permeated with longing for a life filled with love and harmony. In contrast to medieval religious dogmas, his philosophy of love is optimistic; he treats love as the source of life-giving strength and creative energy. His poetry influenced Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani fine arts.

WORKS

Sayat-Nova [khagher.] Lus gts’ats ashkhatasirut’enov. G. Akhverdyan. Moscow, 1852.
Hayeren, vrats’eren, adrbeshaneren khagheh zhoghovatsu, kazm. Khmb. Ev tsanot’agr. M. Hasrat’yan. Yerevan, 1963.
In Russian translation:
Stikhotvoreniia. Leningrad, 1961.
Sayat-Nova. Pesni: Vperevodakh Valeriia Briusova. Yerevan, 1963.
Lirika [Introductory article by I. Grishashvili.] Moscow, 1963.

REFERENCES

Harut’yunyan, S. Ergi hancharě: Sayat’-Nova. Yerevan, 1963.
Sargsyan, Kh. S. Sayat’-Nova. Yerevan, 1963.

M. M. MKRIAN