Tovmas Terzian

Tovmas Terzian
Born	1840 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died	1909 (aged 68–69) Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Alma mater	Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael
Occupation(s)	Poet, playwright, and teacher

Tovmas Terzian (Armenian: Թովմաս Թէրզեան; October 21, 1840 – February 8, 1909) was an Ottoman Armenian poet, playwright, and teacher.

Biography

Tovmas Terzian was born in the Pera district of Constantinople on October 21, 1840. His father, Hagop Rossi, was a Catholic Armenian tailor from Smyrna and his mother, Anna, was a Corsican citizen of France. The family mainly spoke Greek at home, as well as Italian, French and Turkish; Terzian did not learn Armenian as a child. It was frequently—and incorrectly—believed that Terzian was ethnically Greek. After attending the Sakızağacı Mekhitarist school,[1] he attended the Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael in Venice, Italy from which he graduated in 1858. Upon returning to Constantinople, he dedicated himself to teaching. He taught at the Nersesian, Nubar-Shahnazarian, and Getronagan schools. His students included famous Armenians such as Reteos Berberian, Minas Cheraz, Yeghia Demirdjibashian, Krikor Zohrab, Yerukhan, and other writers and teachers. Tovmas Terzian was fluent in English, Armenian, French, Italian, Classical Greek, Latin, Turkish, and Greek.[2]

Works

The poster of Tovmas Terzian's tragedy Sandukht

Tovmas Terzian is famed mainly for his poetry and plays. He wrote the libretto for the first Armenian opera, Arshak II, composed by Tigran Chukhajian. Terzian wrote the libretto in Italian then translated it into Armenian. It was published as a bilingual edition in Constantinople in 1871.[3] The libretto is based on the life of the 4th-century Armenian king Arshak II.[4] The libretto doubles as a play, and it was performed as a play for the first time at the Italian theater of Constantinople's Naum Theatre.[5] When the opera Arshak II was staged in full for the first time in Soviet Armenia in 1945, a different libretto, written by Armen Gulakian, was used.[6] In 2001, Arshak II was staged at the San Francisco Opera,[7] using an Armenian translation of Terzian's Italian libretto and Chukhajian's original score, prepared by Haig Avakian and Gerald Papasian.[8] The opera was performed with Terzian's original Italian libretto for the first time at the Yerevan Opera Theater in March 2024.[9]

References

1. Asatryan, Anna (2006). «Arshak B»: hayotsʻ andranik ōperan «Արշակ Բ»․ հայոց անդրանիկ օպերան [Arshak II: The first Armenian opera] (in Armenian). Preface by Ararat Aghasyan. Yerevan: HH GAA Arvesti instituti hratarakchʻutʻyun. p. 15. ISBN 99941-68-01-0.
2. Hacikyan, Agop; Gabriel Basmajian; Edward S. Franchuk (2005). Nourhan Ouzounian (ed.). The Heritage of Armenian Literature Volume III: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. pp. 380–381. ISBN 0-8143-2815-6. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
3. Asatryan 2006, p. 40.
4. Bardakjian, Kevork B. (2000). A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature 1500-1920. Wayne State University Press. p. 536. ISBN 0-8143-2747-8.
5. Asatryan 2006, p. 35.
6. Tahmizian, N. (1976). "Arshak B" «Արշակ Բ». In Simonian, Abel (ed.). Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան [Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia] (in Armenian). Vol. 2. Erevan: Haykakan hanragitarani glkhavor khmbagrutʻyun. pp. 105–106.
7. "Arshak II | San Francisco Opera Performance Archive". San Francisco Opera. 8 September 2001. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
8. Stevens, David (17 October 2001). "An Armenian Opera: First Take". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
9. Danielyan, Samvel (24 February 2024). "«Arshak B»: hayotsʻ andranik ev Merdzavor Arevelkʻum aṛajin ōperayi heghinakayin arajnakhaghin ěndaṛaj" «Արշակ Բ»՝ հայոց անդրանիկ եւ Մերձավոր Արեւելքում առաջին օպերայի հեղինակային առաջնախաղին ընդառաջ ["Arshak II": Before the premiere of the first Armenian and first Middle Eastern opera]. Aravot (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2025.