The Most Famous

WRITERS from Armenia

This page contains a list of the greatest Armenian Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 12 of which were born in Armenia. This makes Armenia the birth place of the 61st most number of Writers behind Afghanistan, and Morocco.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Armenian Writers of all time. This list of famous Armenian Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Armenian Writers.

1. Khachatur Abovian (1805 - 1848)

With an HPI of 61.84, Khachatur Abovian is the most famous Armenian Writer. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages on wikipedia.

Khachatur Abovian (Armenian: Խաչատուր Աբովյան, romanized: Khach’atur Abovyan; October 15 [O.S. October 3] 1809 – disappeared April 14 [O.S. April 2] 1848) was an Armenian polymath, educator, scientist, philosopher, writer, poet and an advocate of modernization. He mysteriously vanished in 1848 and was eventually presumed dead. Reputed as the father of modern Armenian literature, he is best remembered for his novel Wounds of Armenia. Written in 1841 and published posthumously in 1858, it was the first novel published in the Modern Armenian language, based on the Yerevan dialect instead of Classical Armenian. Abovian was far ahead of his time and virtually none of his works were published during his lifetime. Only after the establishment of the Armenian SSR was Abovian accorded recognition and stature. Abovian is regarded as one of the foremost figures not just in Armenian literature, but Armenian history at large. Abovian's influence on Western Armenian literature was not as strong as it was on Eastern Armenian, particularly in its formative years.

2. Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869 - 1923)

With an HPI of 58.78, Hovhannes Tumanyan is the 2nd most famous Armenian Writer. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Hovhannes Tumanyan (Armenian: Հովհաննես Թումանյան, classical spelling: Յովհաննէս Թումանեան, February 19 [O.S. February 7] 1869 – March 23, 1923) was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia. Tumanyan wrote poems, quatrains, ballads, novels, fables, and critical and journalistic articles. His works were mostly written in the style of realism, frequently revolving around the everyday life of his time. Born in the historical village of Dsegh in the Lori region, at a young age Tumanyan moved to Tiflis, which was the centre of Armenian culture under the Russian Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. He soon became known to the wide Armenian society for his simple but very poetic works. Many films and animated films have been adapted from Tumanyan's works. Two operas, Anush (1912) by Armen Tigranian and Almast (1930) by Alexander Spendiaryan, were written based on his works.

3. Silva Kaputikyan (1919 - 2006)

With an HPI of 55.33, Silva Kaputikyan is the 3rd most famous Armenian Writer. Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Silva Kaputikyan (Armenian: ) (20 January 1919 – 25 August 2006) was an Armenian poet and political activist. One of the best-known Armenian writers of the twentieth century, she is recognized as "the leading poetess of Armenia" and "the grand lady of twentieth century Armenian poetry". Although a member of the Communist Party, she was a noted advocate of Armenian national causes. Her first collection of poems were published in the mid-1940s. By the 1950s she had established herself as a significant literary figure in Soviet Armenia. Besides Armenian she also wrote in Russian and many of her works were translated to other languages. In the later Soviet period she frequently addressed political and other issues.

4. Avetik Isahakyan (1875 - 1957)

With an HPI of 53.30, Avetik Isahakyan is the 4th most famous Armenian Writer. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Avetik Sahaki Isahakyan (Armenian: Ավետիք Սահակի Իսահակյան; October 30, 1875 – October 17, 1957) was an Armenian lyric poet, writer and public activist.

5. Hovhannes Shiraz (1914 - 1984)

With an HPI of 50.87, Hovhannes Shiraz is the 5th most famous Armenian Writer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Hovhannes Shiraz (Armenian: Հովհաննես Շիրազ; April 27, 1914 – March 24, 1984) was an Armenian poet.

6. Shushanik Kurghinian (1876 - 1927)

With an HPI of 50.59, Shushanik Kurghinian is the 6th most famous Armenian Writer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Shushanik Kurghinian (Armenian: Շուշանիկ Կուրղինյան; née Popoljian; 18 August 1876 – 24 November 1927) was an Armenian writer who became a catalyst in the development of socialist and feminist poetry. She is described as having "given a voice to the voiceless" and herself saw her role as a poet as "profoundly political". Her first poem was published in 1899 in Taraz, and in 1900 her first short story appeared in the journal Aghbyur. After founding the first Hunchakian women's political group in Alexandropol, Kurghinian fled to Rostov on Don in order to escape arrests of the tsarist regime. Her first volume of poetry, Ringing of the Dawn, was published in 1907, and one of her poems from this volume, "The Eagle's Love," was translated and included in Alice Stone Blackwell's second anthology Armenian Poems: Rendered into English Verse (1917). After the Russian Revolution, in 1921 she returned to NEP-era Soviet Armenia where she lived until her death. Throughout her lifetime, Kurghinian cultivated significant relationships with famous members of the Armenian artistic and literary worlds of her time, including Vrtanes Papazian, Avetik Isahakian, Hovhannes Toumanian, Hrand Nazariantz and others.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as Armenian writers born between 1590 and 1971. Of these 14, 2 (14.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Armenian writers include Narine Abgaryan, and Mariam Petrosyan. The most famous deceased Armenian writers include Khachatur Abovian, Hovhannes Tumanyan, and Silva Kaputikyan. As of April 2024, 2 new Armenian writers have been added to Pantheon including Sarmad Kashani, and Narine Abgaryan.