Raffi (poet)

Infobox Writer
name = Hakob Melik Hakobian


imagesize = 250px
caption = Picture of Raffi, 1883
birthdate = 1835
deathdate = 1888 (aged 53)
occupation = poet, novelist, essayist, Statesman
website = http://armenianhouse.org/raffi/raffi-en.html
birthplace = Payajouk, Iran
deathplace = Tbilisi, Georgia

Hakob Melik Hakobian ( _hy. Յակոբ Մելիք-Յակոբեան), better known by his pen name Raffi ( _hy. Րաֆֆի), is a renowned Armenian author born in 1835 in Payajouk, an Armenian village situated in the Salmast province (presently in the north of Iran, near Lake Ourmia) in Persia. He died in 1888 in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). Raffi is a prominent figure of Armenian literature.

Biography

His father, a wealthy merchant and farmer, belonged to the local bourgeoisie. Thus, Raffi’s financial situation, along with his being the eldest of a large family of 13 children, allowed him to benefit from a high quality education.

His education began at Ter Todik, his village's school, which was known for its strictness and punishment methods. Raffi described and denounced these methods in one of his novels, Kaytzer. At the age of 12, Raffi was sent by his father to continue his secondary education at a boarding school in Tiflis, away from his native land.

Tiflis, today known as Tbilisi, was at the time one of the largest Armenian intellectual centers. Alas, due to the degradation of his father’s financial affairs, Raffi was forced to return to his native country. It was at this point that he began teaching Armenian language and history in the Aramian school in Tabriz, the Augoulis school in the Nakhitchevan region and, later on, in Tiflis.

Throughout his life, Raffi took many trips to the villages and provinces of Eastern and Western Armenia. Wherever he visited, he became aware of the daily misery experienced by the Armenian population, who lived in constant fear of the Turks and Kurds. Raffi, like other Armenian intellectuals, was convinced that it was not viable to continue living thus. He would thereafter seek to deeply transform Armenian society. In order to do so, it was necessary for him to make the people themselves aware of the tragic reality in which they lived.

Raffi was a prolific writer. His works were published in the magazines "Mchak" and "Ardzakank". His main work, The Fool, first appeared in series in the magazine "Mshak", (an Armenian journal founded by Grigor Artsruni in 1872) and was a great success. "Mshak" played an important role in awakening the Armenian people from the lethargy that had overcome the majority of them since their loss of independence in 1393. Raffi’s patriotic text was read by virtually all Armenian youth of the time. In his novels, Raffi created national heroes and Armenian revolutionaries. In fact, there is a well-known Armenian phrase that goes: ‘there are no Feddayines that have not read Raffi.

Raffi considered the teaching of the Armenian language to the population as fundamental and vital, which is why he used various methods (the press, novels, teaching) to fill the lack of culture in the Armenian population.

Raffi passed away in 1888 in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi), and his funeral attracted a huge crowd. He is buried in the Pantheon of Armenians at the Khodjivank cemetery in Tbilisi, where Hovhannes Tumanian, Gabriel Sundukian, Ghazaros Aghayan and Grigor Artsruni are also buried.

Presently, there is a school as well as a street named after Raffi in Yerevan, Armenia.

Bibliography

A selection of his most renowned works:
*"Salbi" (1874)
*"Jallaleddin" (1878)
*"Khent" or "The Fool" (1881)
*"David Bek" (1882)
*"Kaytzer" (1883-84)
*"Samuel" (1886)
*"Khatchagoghi Hiqhatakarane" (1889-70)

ee also

*Grigor Artsruni
*Tbilisi

External links

* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Raffi_(Hagop_Hagopian) Raffi at Armeniapedia]
* [http://www.cilicia.com/armoz.html#chapter0 Jane S. Wingate's full English translation of Raffi's most famous book, "Khent"]
* [http://armenianhouse.org/raffi/raffi-en.html Raffi's biography and works]