NAASR’s Mardigian Library contains innumerable works of literature translated into Armenian from many languages. The works translated span from ancient to contemporary writings, and the focus of this feature will be on the 19^th and first half of the 20^th century when tremendous efforts were made to make non-Armenian (mainly western) literary works accessible to the growing Armenian readership in Eastern Armenia, Western Armenia, and throughout the diaspora. It is, of course, duly recognized that translation into Armenian has been an important process since the invention of the Armenian alphabet—not for nothing does the Armenian Church observe the Feast of the Holy Translators (Surb T‘argmanchats' tōn = Սուրբ Թարգմանչաց տօն).

As can be readily seen from the small selection presented in this two-part feature, the major centers for translation were initially Venice, Smyrna, and Tiflis. Constantinople eventually displaced Smyrna within the Ottoman Empire, and in the twentieth century we see diasporan centers such as Paris, Boston, and Cairo emerge, and Yerevan becomes the focal point of Eastern Armenian translation activity and, later, Beirut for Western Armenian. In this way we are able to discern a great deal about Armenian intellectual geography over the course of a century.

Krikor Chilingirian and Matteos Mamurian, two of the most prolific Armenian translators of the 19th century. Images from Hrand Asadur (Հրանտ Ասատուր), Timasduerner (Դիմաստուերներ), G. Bolis, 1921 (NAASR Mardigian Library: from the collection of Harry and Araxie Kolligian.

What works were translated often reveal interesting things about both the translators and publishers and the readership: while many of the books featured below are still familiar to most people, others are quite obscure. In all cases, we are led to wonder: Who read these books? How popular were they? What impact did they have on their readers? What impact did they have on Armenian writers and intellectuals?

For the titles featured, a small but, we hope, interesting sampling, we provide the publication information for each book, including the author, the title of the book in Armenian and in its original language (although translations were not necessarily done from the original language) and in English, when applicable, its first date of publication in its original language, the name and location of the publisher, and the name of the translator when known. It is interesting to note that some translations were done very close to the date of the original publication. Some of the translators are well known as translators (Krikor Chilingirian and Matteos Mamurian were prolific, if not indefatigable, translators) or as authors (e.g., Raffi, Yeghishe Charents), others are known only to specialists or are not known at all; it is noteworthy that several translators were women.

Author: Pobliosi Virgileay Marovni = Պոբլիոսի Վիրգիլեայ Մարովնի [Virgil]

Title: Enēakanin = Ենէականին [Aeneid, 19 B.C.E.]

Publication Information: I Venetik: I Surbn Ghazar, 1845

Translator: H[ayr]. Eduarday V[ardapet]. Hiwrmiwzean = Հ[այր]. Եդուարդայ Վ[արդապետ]. Հիւրմիւզեան

Author: B. Virkileay Maroni = Պ. Վիրգիլեայ Մարոնի

Title: Enēagan = Ենէական

Publication Information: Venedig-S. Ghazar: Mkhit'arean Dbakrut'iwn, 1910

Translator: H[ayr]. Arsēn Ghazikean = Հ. Արսէն Ղազիկեան

The 1845 translation by the Mekhitarist Fr. Hiwrmiwzean (1799-1876) appears to be the earliest published version of the great Latin epic in Classical Armenian (grabar), while Fr. Ghazikian, a tireless translator, was the first to translate into ashkharabar.

Author: Harriět Bichěr Stoy [Harriet Beecher Stowe] = Հենրիկ․ [sic] Պիչըր Սդոյ

Title: Aghpar T‘ovmasi Dnagě = Աղբար Թովմասի տնակը : Վիպասանութիւն [Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852]

Publication Information: Venedig: I Mkhit‘arean Dbarani, 1854; also second edition, Venedig: I Mkhit‘arean Dbarani, 1906

Translator: not stated

NAASR’s Mardigian Library has among its holdings the first volume (of two) of the Armenian translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s extremely popular and influential anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin—Aghpar T‘ovmasi Dnagě in Western Armenian transliteration—as well as the second edition, published in 1906 in Venice by the Mekhitarists. It is remarkable that the book was translated into Armenian within two years of its initial publication in 1852. Efforts to identify the translator have thus far been unsuccessful. Note that the first Armenian edition turned Harriet into Henrik!

Various later 19th century editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (in English) include a letter from “the Rev. Mr. Dwight” in Constantinople, who must be Harrison Gray Otis Dwight, the Protestant missionary to the Armenians in Asia Minor, to Professor Calvin Ellis Stowe, the husband of the author. Part of the letter reads as follows: “‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ in the Armenian language! Who would have thought it? I do not suppose your good wife, when she wrote that book, thought that she was going to missionate it among the sons of Haig in all their dispersions, following them along the banks of the Euphrates, sitting down with them in their towns and villages under the shade of hoary Ararat, travelling with them in their wanderings even to India and China. But I have it in my hands! in the Armenian of the present day, the same language in which I speak and think and dream.”

Title page and frontispiece of 1906 2nd. ed. of Aghpar T‘ovmasi Dnagě (1906)

Author: [Pierre Blanchard]

Title: P‘elik‘s ew Bawlinē gam Zhuray leran tagi kerezmaně: Vibanut‘iwn = Փելիքս եւ Պաւլինէ կամ Ժուրայ լեռան տակի գերեզմանը: Վիպասանութիւն [Félix et Pauline, ou le tombeau au pied du Mont Jura, 1794]

Publication Information: Pariz: Dbakrut‘iwn Aramean, 1859

Translator: Krikor T‘orosean = Գրիգոր Թորոսեան

Pages from P‘elik‘s ew Bawlinē (1859)

Author: Fenělon = Ֆենըլոն [François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon]

Title: Telemak‘: vipasanut‘iwn = Տելեմաք: Վիպասանութիւն [Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse, 1699]

Publication Information: P‘ariz: I Dbarani A. Burdiēi, 1860

Translator: Ambrosios V. Kalfayean = Ամբրոսիոս Վ. Գալֆայեան

Fénelon’s (1651-1715) influential novel uses a Homeric setting and characters to provide a critique of Louis XIV’s France. This did not endear him to Le Roi Soleil, whose grandson, Le Petit Dauphin, was Fénelon’s student.

Author: Florian = Ֆլորիան [Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian]

Title: Galat‘ēa u Ēstēlla = Կալաթէա ու Էսթէլլա [Galatée, Roman pastoral, imité de Cervantes or Galatea: A Pastoral Romance, Imitated from Cervantes, 1783]

Publication Information: Gosdantinubōlis: I Dbarani Hovhannu Miwhēndisean, 1863

Translator: Nurichanean = Նուրիճանեան

Translation into Western Armenian of Florian’s (1755-94) pastoral romance Galatée, based on Cervantes’ La Galatea, which was itself based on earlier stories. It was adapted by Louis-Armand Chardin into an opera.

Author: Prospēr Mērimē = Բրոսբէր Մէրիմէ [Prosper Mérimée]

Title: Aghawni: Vibasanut‘iwn = Աղաւնի: Վիպասանութիւն [Colomba: novella, 1841]

Publication Information: Venedig: I Surp Ghazar, 1863)

Translator: not stated

Author: P‘rōsp‘r Mērimē = Փրօսփր Մէրիմէ

Title: K‘ōlōmba = Քօլօմպա

Publication Information: P‘rovitēns, “Bahag”-i dbaran, 1913

Translator: H[ovhannes]. Dzovigean = Յ[ովհաննէս]. Ծովիկեան

Colomba, by French Romantic writer Prosper Mérimée (1803-70), best known for his novella Carmen, upon which Bizet’s opera is based, was translated into Western Armenian twice within 50 years, published first in Venice and then in Providence, RI. This popular work is set in Corsica.

Author: Vl. Shēk‘sp‘iyray = Վլ․ Շէքսփիյրայ [William Shakespeare]

Title: Hromēos ew Chiwleētta = Հռոմէոս եւ Ճիւլեէդդա [Romeo and Juliet, 1597]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dēdēean, 1866

Translator: A[ram]. G. Dēdēean = Ա[րամ] Կ. Տէտէեան

The earliest translations into Armenian of Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) works were published in India in the 1820s, when excerpts were translated into grabar (Classical Armenian) and appeared in periodicals. The first known full-length translation (into Western Armenian) was published by Aram Dedeyan in Smyrna in 1853. Dedeyan would, with his brother Dikran, establish the Dedeyan (Dēdēean) printing house that was the publisher of so many books listed here so far. Aram Dedeyan was also the translator of Romeo and Juliet, issued as Hromēos ew Chiwleētta in 1866, making it the earliest Shakespearian translation into Armenian in the NAASR library.

Author: Zheōrzh San = Ժէօրժ Սան [Georges Sand, nom de plume of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin]

Title: Ōriort Lakēnt‘ini = Օրիորդ Լագէնթինի [Mademoiselle La Quintinie, 1863]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1871

Translator: Kr. Chilingirean = Գր. Չիլինկիրեան

Immensely popular and influential in her lifetime, novelist and feminist Georges Sand (1804-76) must have been (with Harriett Beecher Stowe, above) among the earliest women writers translated into Armenian. Her epistolary novel Mademoiselle La Quintinie explores issues of faith and the role of the (Catholic) Church, and tries, as she writes in the preface, “to bring out some of the causes which throw upright minds and loving hearts on a different path from that of the clerical party.” Translator Krikor Chilingirian (1839-1926) was a noted editor, translator, and literary figure. He knew Greek, French, Italian, and Turkish. From 1861-1867 he published Dzaghig magazine.

Author: Abē Prevō = Ապէ Բրեվօ [Abbé Prévost, aka Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles]

Title: Manōn Lesk‘ō = Մանօն Լեսքօ [Manon Lescaut, 1731]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1872

Abbé Prévost’s famous succès de scandale was banned yet hugely popular upon its appearance in 1731. Manon Lescaut, later adapted into an opera by Puccini, tells the story of doomed lovers the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut. Manōn Lesk‘ō is one of nearly 30 French novels translated by Krikor Chilingirian into Western Armenian.

Author: Alfōns dě Lamart‘in = Ալֆոնս տը Լամարթին [Alphonse de Lamartine]

Title: Grats’iēlla = Կրացիէլլա [Graziella, 1852]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1873; ergrort dip

Translator: S. K. Ē. (i.e., Sahag Ēk‘mēk‘chean = Սահակ Էթմէքճեան)

Author and statesman Lamartine’s (1790-1869) story of the ill-fated love between a young Frenchman and an Italian fisherman’s daughter (drawing on Lamartine’s own youthful experiences) was popular in its time and one of the major French Romantic novels. This Western Armenian translation was first published in 1872; this is the second printing.

Author: A[leksantr]. Diwma = Ալեքսանդր Տիւմա [Alexandre Dumas]

Title: Brazhlōn Tergoms = Պրաժլօն Դերկոմս [Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard, 1847-50]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1873

Translator: M[att‘ēos]. Mamurean = Մատթէոս Մամուրեան

Dumas’ (1802-70) Le Vicomte de Bragelonne was the final installment of Dumas’s “musketeer epic” begun with Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers, 1844) and continued with Vingt ans après (Twenty Years After, 1845). Le Vicomte de Bragelonne sometimes refers to the entire concluding volume of the story (which itself is divided into Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière, and L'Homme au Masque de Fer, which are sometimes treated as separate novels), sometimes to the first portion only. The Western Armenian translation by Matteos Mamurian (1830-1901), who with fellow Smyrnian Krikor Chilingirian was a major force as a writer and translator, encompasses all three sections of the Vicomte de Bragelonne. Mamurian also translated Les Trois Mousquetaires (Erekʻ Hratsʻanagirkʻ, 1872) and Vingt ans après (K‘san dari etk‘, 1872).

Author: Haghek‘santr Diwmayē = Յաղեքսանդր Դիւմայէ [Alexandre Dumas]

Title: Goms Mont‘ē-K‘rist‘oy = Կոմս Մօնթէ-Քրիսթոյ [Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, 1844-46]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dēdēean, 1874-1875

Translator: Dikran Harut‘iwn Dēdēean = Տիգրան Յարութիւն Տէտէեան

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, one of the greatest adventure stories ever written, is one of Dumas’ most famous works, telling the stirring story of Edmond Dantès. This Western Armenian translation was done by Dikran Dedeyan, brother of Aram (see previous entry).

Illustration credited to "J. Manoukian" from 1874-75 ed. of Goms Mont‘ē-K‘rist‘oy showing Dantès/the Count spurning the offerings of Mercédès.

Author: Dash Gomsuhi = Տաշ Կոմսուհի [Countess Dash]

Title: Ariwnali Mark‘izuhin = Արիւնալի մարքիզուհին [La Marquise Sanglante or The Bloody Marquess, 1863]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1876-77

Translator: Kh. E. Burunuzean = Խ.Ե. Պուրունսուզեան

Author: A. H. Barrileay = Ա. Յ. Պարրիլեայ [Anton Giulio Barrili]

Title: Ara Keghets‘ig: badmagan vibasanut‘iwn = Արա Գեղեցիկ: Պատմական վիպասանութիւն [trans. of Semiramide: racconto babilonese, 1873]

Publication: Venedig: Mkhit‘areants' Dbaran, 1876

Translator: not stated

We do not know who translated the Italian historical novel Semiramide: racconto babilonese by Anton Giulio Barrili (1836-1908). The retitling of the novel seems to deemphasize Semiramide or Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen, and bring to the forefront the Armenian hero Ara Keghetsig (Ara the Beautiful), who fell victim to her passion—or, perhaps, was just too good looking for his own good.

Author: Ēozhēn tě Mirkur = Էօժէն դը Միրգուր [Eugène de Mirecourt]

Title: Mariōn Dělōrmi khosdovanank‘ě  = Մարիօն Տըլօրմի խոստովանանքը [Confessions de Marion Delorme, 1856]

Publication: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Dedēean, 1876

Translator: Kr. Chilingirean = Գր. Չիլինկիրեան

Perhaps to show they were equal opportunity translators, the Dedeyan brothers published Chilingirian’s translation of Eugène de Mirecourt’s (nom-de-plume of Charles Jean-Baptiste Jacquot, 1812-80) novel Confessions de Marion Delorme. De Mirecourt was most famous (or infamous) for his attack on Alexandre Dumas in the broadside Fabrique de romans: maison Alexandre Dumas et compagnie (1845), which not only criticized Dumas for employing ghostwriters but also assaulted him in racist terms--Dumas was part black.

Author: Moliēr = Մոլիէր [Molière]

Title: Agamay pzhishg = Ակամայ բժիշկ [Le Médecin malgré lui or The Doctor in Spite of Himself, 1667]

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn Eghparts' Dedēean, 1882

Translator: Dikran Harut‘iwn Dedēean (Տիգրան Հարություն Տէտէեան)

The Dedeyans' all-encompassing literary Francophilia of course also included the work of France’s most noted playwright Molière (1622-73). Le Médecin malgré lui is one of Molière’s greatest farces and satirizes the medical profession. It was adapted into an opera by Gounod in the 19^th century. The cover and title page of this 1882 Western Armenian translation state that it was the 2^nd printing, but the National Library of Armenia lists two earlier printings from 1854 and 1863.

Author: Zakher-Mazōkh = Զախեր-Մազօխ [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch]

Title: Kayēni Ktakě (Galits‘iakan Zroyts‘ner) = Կայէնի կտակը: (Գալիցիական զրոյցներ) [Das Vermachtnis Kains (Galizische Geschichten) or The Legacy of Cain, 1877]

Publication Information: Tiflis: Kovkasi Karavarchi Glkh. Karav. tparanum., 1884

Translator: Raffi = Րաֆֆի

Lvov-born Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895) is today perhaps best known as the eponym for the term “masochism,” coined by Krafft-Ebing in Psychopathia Sexualis in the 1880s, and most vividly depicted in von Sacher-Masoch’s most famous work, Venus in Furs (Venus im Pelz, 1870). This translation into Eastern Armenian was done by one of Armenia’s greatest novelists, Raffi.

Author: Viliam Shēk‘spir = Վիլիամ Շէքսպիր [William Shakespeare]

Title: Zur Teghě Mets Aghmuk = Զուր տեղը մեծ աղմուկ [Much Ado About Nothing, 1623]

Publication Information: Tiflis: Hovhannēs Martiroseants‘i Tparan, 1888

Translator: Hovhannēs Lalayean = Յովհաննէս Լալայեան

Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing, written around 1598 or 1599, was first published in the First Folio of 1623. Lalayean’s translation into Eastern Armenian (from a German version) was the play’s first appearance in Armenian.

Author: I. Potapenko = Ի. Պօտապենկօ [Ignatiĭ Nikolaevich Potapenko]

Title: Gaghap‘arakan K‘ahanay: Vēp = Գաղափարական քահանայ: Վէպ [На дѣйствительной службѣ / Na dieistvitel'noi sluzhbie, 1890]

Publication Information: Tiflis: Tparan M. Sharadzei, 1892

Translator: T. S. = Տ. Ս.

Ukraine-born Potapenko’s (1856-1929) most famous work is known in English as A Russian Priest (1916), and the English translator William Gaussen writes that “This little story of Russian life which appeared about a year ago in the Vestnik Evropi, the leading Russian literary magazine, may prove interesting to those who follow the progress of events in Russia at the present day, throwing as it does a certain amount of light upon the habits and condition of the peasants, who form the great mass of the nation, and the influence the clergy have on them.”

Author: F. Shiller = Ֆ[րիդրիխ]. Շիլլեր [Friedrich Schiller]

Title: Awazakner: Oghbergut‘iwn = Աւազակներ: Ողբերգութիւն [Die Räuber or The Robbers, 1781]

Publication Information: Tifliz: Tparan H. Martiroseants‘i, 1890

Translator: P‘ilippos Vardanean = Փիլիպպոս Վարդանեան

Schiller’s (1759-1805) first play, “The Robbers concerns the rivalry between the brothers Karl and Franz, both of whom operate outside conventional morality. A protest against official corruption, the play condemned a society in which men of high purpose could be driven to live outside the law when justice was denied them” (Britannica.com).

Author: Jonat‘an Suift = Ջօնաթան Սուիֆտ [Jonathan Swift]

Title: Gullivēri Chanaparhordut‘iwně = Գուլլիվէրի ճանապարհորդութիւնը [Gulliver’s Travels, 1726)

Publication Information: Tiflis: Tparan H. Martiroseants'i, 1897

Translator: Gh[azaros]. Aghayean = Ղ[ազարոս]. Աղայեան

Author: Jonat‘an Svift = Ջոնաթան Սվիֆտ

Title: Skzbum virabuyzh, apa mi kʻani naveri kapitan Lemyuel Guliveri Chanaparhordutʻyunnerě depi ashkharhi ayl ev ayl yerkrner

Publication Information: Yerevan: Petakan Hratarakchut՛yun, 1934

Translator: Karen Mikayelyan = Կարեն Միքայելյան

Spectacular frontispiece and title page to 1934 translation of Gulliver's Travels incorporating artwork by J. J. Grandville (left) and Hakob Kojoyan (right).

Author: Shēk‘spir = Շէքսպիր [William Shakespeare]

Title: Hamlēt = Համլէտ [Hamlet, 1603]

Publication Information: Tiflis: Tparan M. Sharadzē ew ěnk., 1894

Translator: Hovhannes Khan Masēhean = Յովհաննէս Խան Մասէհեան

Title: Hamlēt = Համլէդ

Publication Information: Vienna: Mkhit‘arean Dbaran, 1899

Translator: Karekin H. Papazean = Գարեգին Յ. Բաբազեան

Title: Hamlēt = Համլէտ

Vienna: Mkhit‘arean tparan, 1921

Translator: Hovhannes Masēhean = Յովհաննէս Մասէհեան

Here we encounter three translations of Hamlet: two into Eastern Armenian by the most famous of Armenian translators of Shakespeare, Hovhannes Masehian—his first attempt, published in 1894, and his second published in 1921—and a Western Armenian translation by Karekin Papazian. Hovhannes Khan Masehian (1864-1931) was an Iranian-Armenian translator and diplomat, well known as the translator of Shakespeare’s and Byron’s works into Armenian. He also served as Persia’s Ambassador to Germany, to Great Britain, and was the first Ambassador of Persia to Japan. The 1921 Vienna edition features impressive drawings by Zabelle Boyajian.

Zabelle Boyajian's illlustration of the climax of "The Murder of Gonzago," the play-within-a-play in Hamlet Act II, scene 2.

Author: Gēōt‘ē = Գէօթէ [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Title: Faust: oghbergut‘iwn Gēōt‘ēi= Ֆաուստ: Ողբերգութիւն Գէօթէի [Faust. Eine Tragödie or The Tragedy of Faust, 1808]

Publication Information: Tifliz: Arazatip Mnats‘akan Martiroseants‘i, 1902

Translator: Georg Barkhudareants‘ = Գէորգ Բարխուդարեանց

Title: Faust‘ = Ֆաուսթ

Publication Information: Zmiwrnia: Dbakrut‘iwn K‘eshishean, 1909

Translator: Mesrob Nubarean = Մեսրոպ Նուպարեան

Author: Ivan Vazōf = Իվան Վազoֆ [Ivan Minchov Vazov]

Title: Ludzin Dag = Լուծին տակ [Под игото / Pod Igoto or Under the Yoke, 1888]

Publication Information: Bost‘on: Dbaran "Tsayn Hayreneats‘"i, 1906

Translator: not stated

Bulgarian author Ivan Vazov’s 1893 novel Pod Igoto (Under the Yoke), translated as Ludzin Dag, tells a story of resistance to the Ottoman Turks in the mid-1870s. Vazov was considered the preeminent Bulgarian writer of his time. Interestingly, the novel is described in The Everyman Companion to East European Literature as “widely understood as patriotic, but containing one of the most precise, if somewhat ironical, analyses of the National Revival.”

Author: Vik՛t՛or Hiwgō = Վիքտոր Հիւկօ [Victor Hugo]

Title: T‘shuarner = Թշուառներ [Les Misérables, 1862]

Publication Information: G. Bolis: Hradaragut'iwn V. ew B. Zartarean Eghpayrneru, 1909; errort dbakrut'iwn

Translator: Gr. Chilingirean = Գր. Չիլինկիրեան

Hugo (1802-85) was the titan of French literature in the 19^th century, prolific as a novelist, dramatist, and poet, and Les Misérables, centering on the story of Jean Valjean and his dogged pursuit by Inspector Javert, but with a multitude of characters and sub-plots, is his most famous work. It was also clearly a popular work in Armenian with six reprintings of this translation between its first publication in 1868 and 1927. The runwaway success of the musical version in our time indicates its enduring appeal.

Illustration from 1909 3rd ed. of T‘shuarner