Hovhannes Tumanyan’s House in Tbilisi Handed over to Armenian Diocese

TBILISI — On Jun 8, 2015, the delegation of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, under the leadership of the Chairman, Edvard Militonyan, arrived in Tbilisi to participate in the hand over of Hovhannes Tumanyan’s house to the Armenian Diocese in Georgia. The guests visited the exhibition dedicated to Komitas held in the Hayartun Center, then the Khojivank Pantheon of Armenian writers and public figures and laid flowers on the tombs of Hovhannes Tumanyan and of other Greats of the Armenian nation.

Later, the delegation together with representatives of the Diocese headed to the house of Hovhannes Tumanyan where they were joined by the Counselor from the RA Embassy in Georgia, Karen Melikyan, the Chairman of the Georgian Writer’s Union, Makvala Gonashvili, the Editor of the “Tsiskari” journal, Baghater Arabuli and others.

The part of the house (150sqm), which is now turned into a library was acquired by Levon Ananyan the former chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia thanks to the financial support provided by the Mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Ghukasyan.

The Chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, Edvard Militonyan handed the keys to the Primate of the Armenian Diocese, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan. The house now will be called the “Tumanyan Vernatun of Culture and Art” , the purpose of which will be the development of the cooperation and mutual relationships between two Christian nations, the organization of book presentations and different cultural events. The building will include a hall, a library providing sources in four languages, AGBU Virtual University and one of the rooms will carry the name of Levon Ananyan.

The Chairman of the Georgian Writer’s Union, Makvala Gonashvili, the President of the “Vernatun” Armenian Writers’ Union of Georgia, Gevorg Snkhchyan, the Counselor from the RA Embassy in Georgia, Karen Melikyan, poet and translator Givi Shahnazar, poetess and translator Anahit Bostanjyan gave congratulatory speeches.

The Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan in his speech mentioned that the Diocese will undertake the reconstruction and will provide with necessary equipment and furniture.

The house of the great Armenian writer, Hovhannes Tumanyan, is located on Amagleba street, 18 (former Davitashvili St.), where the writer lived from 1909 to 1923. In 1952 the writer’s personal belongings were taken to Yerevan. 4 rooms out of 6 where turned into a library. The rest belonged to heirs. After Georgia’s independence, the City Hall of Tbilisi has transferred the ownership of the part of the library to a Georgian citizen. That part later had to be acquired again.