Siamanto Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Manuk Adamian: Siamanto's nephew Interview by Hovhannes Yeranian Culture Yerkir/am October 22, 2004 The 125th birthday of the great Armenian poet Siamanto, who was killed during the Armenian Genocide, was celebrated in 2003. The celebration was not organized on a scale appropriate for this poet�~@~Ys talent and his contribution to the Armenian culture. Siamanto is not very widely known as opposed to some other Western Armenian poets. Meanwhile, it is obvious that he was a poet of universal value whose poetry has not been adequately appreciated. Siamanto�~@~Ys nephew, French-Armenian doctor Manuk Adamian visited Yerkir. Manukian is doing his best to popularize Siamanto �~@~Ys poetry both among the Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora. We interviewed doctor Adamian. MA: I was born in 1942 in Paris. My father was born in Sis. Then he moved to Izmir, Cyprus and then to Paris. My mother was the daughter of Siamanto�~@~Ys sister. She had moved to France earlier. She had three children. I started reading Siamanto�~@~Ys poetry quite late even though our family was saturated with memories of him. Q: Mr. Adamian, when did you come to Armenia for the first time? A: I visited Armenia five times during the Soviet period. After Armenia became independent, I came here in 1993. Then I was working at an organization called Country and Culture. Its manager, Gegham Gevorgian is my classmate. We reconstructed the church in Gogaran village near Spitak. Next year I came to Armenia with my children. Then in 1995 I came alone again. There is a school named after Siamanto in the South-West district in Yerevan. I wanted to assist that school. We organized a week of appreciation of Siamanto�~@~Ys poetry. Students from several schools in Yerevan participated in essay and poetry reading competitions devoted to his poetry. Now such competitions are organized every year. Actor Azat Gasparian chaired the evaluation committee of the poetry reading competition. I heard him recite Siamanto�~@~Ys poems and had an idea of producing a CD with his poems. So we produced a CD with 15 poems recited by Gasparian. A thirty-page booklet was included with the CD which was prepared based on the materials provided by the Museum of Literature and Arts. Q: Not many people know about the CD in Armenia. How many copies of the disc were issued? A: 500 CD�~@~Ys were produced and 300 were taken to the Diaspora. Q: What events did you organize last year when Siamanto�~@~Ys 125th birthday anniversary was celebrated? A: We celebrated his birthday on August 13. Later in September some other events were organized at Siamanto School and the Writers Union in Yerevan. I tried hard to learn and read Siamanto�~@~Ys poem called Revenge of Centuries. The poem ends with these words, �~@~\My name is struggle and my end is victory.�~@~] Q: I assume you have some plans connected with your current visit to Armenia? A: No, this time I just came here to enjoy myself. I do not have any specific plans. I cannot imagine myself without Armenia. I come here at least twice a year. I felt homesick and this is why I came to Armenia this time. Q: I see you have a camera. Is it an amateur camera? Did you take it to take some pictures of Armenia? A: No, I treat photography very professionally. I respect this art very much. I have made thousands of slides and photos that I showed in different countries accompanied with music. My only topic is Armenia �~@~S Echmiadzin, Salbuchinar, Oshakan, Haghartsin, Sardarapat, Byurakan and other places. I have also shown a series of photos of Ararat. But these photos were shown not with music but with poetry readings of Shiraz, Isahakyan, Charents and other poets. I have a series of photos of Yerevan at night. Q: Mr. Manukian, don�~@~Yt you think that it�~@~Ys time to publish a full collection of Siamanto�~@~Ys poetry? A: Yes, we are now working on publishing a full collection of his poems. Q: Do you know when it will be published? A: Not yet, but I hope it will be published soon. --Boundary_(ID_1de0LaOqQ6sThdTCV9O9ZQ)-- http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg96104.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siamanto Posted November 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 This topic is misplaced. My intention was to post it in Literature! I apologize for the confusion! Siamanto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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