Tekeyan Vahan 1878 - 1945 (67)
My soul grows today and multiplies like an army marching on the battlefield.
QUOTES
my son
He was born on January 21, 1878 in the Armenian district of Istanbul and attended an Armenian school. In 1896 he got a job as a sales clerk, that included many trips abroad. After a trip to Beirut, he remained in the city and became involved in the publication of a newspaper; later he went to Cairo, while he had begun to write and publish poetry. His first collection of poetry, The Wonders, was published in Paris, in 1901. From his base in Cairo, he began writing for Armenian magazines in the West, and in 1905 he founded the literary magazine Chirac, which published the work of many Armenian authors. In 1909, after the collapse of the dictatorial regime of Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, he returned to Istanbul, where he continued to publish 'Chirac' magazine and became a prominent figure in the literary circles of the city.
When World War I broke out in 1914, he happened to be in Egypt where he remained avoiding bloodshed. Eventually he returned to Istanbul, where he ran the newspaper, "Voice of the People. A supporter of democracy and freedom, Tekeyan was beaten badly in 1916 for an artivle he had written, in favor of democracy. He survived but he lost one eye. He left Istanbul and never returned, living until his death, which came in 1945, in Cairo.
Tekeyan is better known and respected today than during his lifetime. He has six volumes of poetry, fiction, essays and political commentary - (several volumes of poetry appeared after his death). His entire work, in nine volumes, was published in Cairo in 1949-50. He is considered as the "Prince of Armenian Poetry"; his poetry, especially his sonnets, are masterpieces of Armenian literature. In 1947, the Tekeyan Cultural Association was founded in Beirut, which is still an important institution in the Armenian Diaspora and has branches all around the world.