Tovmas Tersian

Tovmas Hagopi Tersian ( Armenian Թովմաս Հակոբի Թէրզեան , * 1840 in Constantinople , Ottoman Empire , † 1909 ) was an Armenian poet, playwright and teacher.

Life

Tovmas Tersian was born to a Greek- speaking Armenian father and an Italian mother. After attending the local mechitaristic school, he went to the Murad Raphaelian School in Venice on the island of San Lazzaro , which he graduated in 1858. After returning to Istanbul, he taught at the Nersesian, Nubar-Shahnazarian and Getronagan high schools . His students included Retheos Berberian , Minas Cheras , Yeghia Demirdjibashian, Krikor Zohrab , Eruchan , and numerous other writers and teachers. Tersian learned Armenian , Italian , Latin , Greek, Turkish , French and English at school .

Works

Tovmas Tersian is best known for his poetry and dramas. His main drama was Arshak II (1871), which is loosely based on the life of the 4th century Armenian King Arshak II . The drama, which was written in both Armenian and Italian, was intended as an opera libretto. The music for this opera was composed by Dikran Tschuchadschjan , who used the Italian version of the piece: Arsace II .

Tersian never saw his plays on stage, neither in operatic form nor purely as a theater piece. The Soviet version of Arshak II, which first appeared on the stage in the Yerevan Opera House in 1941 , was a success. However, apart from the title and the names of some characters, it had little in common with the original work of Tovmas Tersian.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kevork B. Bardakjian: A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature 1500-1920 . Editor: Wayne State University Press. 2000, ISBN 0-8143-2747-8 , pp. 536 ( online at: books.google.com ).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Agop Hacikyan, with Gabriel Basmajian and Edward S. Franchuk: The Heritage of Armenian Literature Volume III: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times . Ed .: Nourhan Ouzounian. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI 2005, ISBN 0-8143-2815-6 , pp. 380–381 ( online at books.google.com [accessed October 19, 2011]).

personal data
SURNAME	Tersian, Tovmas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Tersian, Tovmas; Թերզյան, Թովմաս Հակոբի (Armenian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Poet and dramaturge
DATE OF BIRTH	1840
PLACE OF BIRTH	Istanbul
DATE OF DEATH	1909

[büch-1] Kevork B. Bardakjian: A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature 1500-1920 . Editor: Wayne State University Press. 2000, ISBN 0-8143-2747-8 , pp. 536 ( online at: books.google.com ).

[Hacikyan-2] Agop Hacikyan, with Gabriel Basmajian and Edward S. Franchuk: The Heritage of Armenian Literature Volume III: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times . Ed .: Nourhan Ouzounian. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI 2005, ISBN 0-8143-2815-6 , pp. 380–381 ( online at books.google.com [accessed October 19, 2011]).