Roupen Zartarian (1874-1915)

Roupen Zartarian (1874-1915)

Roupen Zartarian was born in 1874, in Siverek province of Tigranakert. When he was two, they moved to Kharberd. He got his primary education at National College of Kharberd, and later, he graduated from Tlgadintsi School.

At the age of 18, he started his teaching career and nearly ten years worked in the sphere of education. First, he was a teacher at Tlgadintsi School, then for about 3 years he worked at the school of French ecclesiastics.

In 1903, he was arrested by the Turkish government and was jailed together with a few other teachers. After his release, he had to settle in the city of Plovdiv in Bulgaria. There he founded the Newspaper “Razmig” (1906).

In 1908, he moved to Istanbul, and a year later, he published Daily Newspaper “Azadamart” as its Editor in Chief. At the same time, he started to work as a visiting teacher in the Central School.

Roupen Zartarian was one of the most brilliant literary figures of the country and had an extremely artistic nature. He was an esthete and an extremely meticulous linguist, which brilliantly mastered the Western Armenian and highly cared for language and style.

Zartarian was also a courageous journalist and a loyal national figure. He used pseudonyms Ezhtahar, Jehovah’s Eye, etc.

Zartarian was the author of “Tsaygaloys” collection (1910), which in 1912, was published in French in Paris, “Seven Singers” (1911), “He who has the Spirit of a Sultan” (1913) .

He also wrote prose, poetry and novels (“Black Rooster Crowed,” “Leap,” “For life,” “Love of House”, “Mountain Boy”, “Repentance”), fairy tales and literary articles.

He was martyred during the Genocide in 1915, at the age of 41. He was married and had children.