On June 8, President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Eduard Militonian and delegates of the Union visited Tbilisi. The purpose of the visit was to transfer the house of Hovhannes Tumanian in Tbilisi to the Armenian Diocese of Georgia, reports the press divan of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia to Hayern Aysor.
After viewing the exhibition dedicated to Komitas at Hayartun Center, the guests visited the Khojivank Pantheon of Armenian writers and public figures and laid flowers near the tombs of Poet of All Armenians Hovhannes Tumanian and other great Armenians. The President of the Union of Writers of Armenia and the leader of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, with the accompaniment of Tbilisi-Armenian intellectuals and representatives of the prelacy, headed towards the house of Hovhannes Tumanian in Tbilisi where they were joined by Adviser of the RA Embassy in Georgia Karen Melikian, secretary of the Union of Writers of Georgia Maghvala Gonashvili and editor of “Tsiskari magazine and writer Baghater Arabuli and others.
A part of Hovhannes Tumanyan’s house, that is, a 150 square meter area that has turned into a library, was obtained through the unwavering efforts of the late President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Levon Ananian and under the sponsorship of former mayor of Gyumri Vartan Ghukasian in 2012. The acquisition of the house in its entirety was in the focus of RA President Serge Sargsyan, and the RA Embassy in Georgia was also working consistently on that. Just recently, by the appeal of the leader of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, the part that had been left for the inheritors was purchased through funding provided by the fund of the St. Gevorg Armenian Church and was donated to the Diocese as property.
The meeting of the presidents of the Unions of Writers of Armenia and Georgia was symbolically held in Tumanyan’s house. President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Eduard Militonian solemnly handed the keys to the house over to leader of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, His Grace, Father, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian. From now on, the house will be called “Tumanian Vernatun for Culture and the Arts”, and its activities will be geared towards the development and deepening of cooperation between the two Christian nations, the friendly relations and the ties between creators. The “Tumanian Vernatun for Culture and the Arts” will also hold discussions and book presentations and various events for Georgian and Armenian writers. The building will house a hall, a library of books in four languages, the AGBU Armenian Virtual University, and one of the rooms will be named after Levon Ananian. Secretary of the Union of Writers of Georgia Maghvala Gonashvili, President of the “Vernatun” Union of Armenian Writers of Georgia Gevorg Snkhchian, Adviser of the RA Embassy in Georgia Karen Melikian, poet-translator Givi Shahnazar and writer and translator Anahit Bostanjian gave speeches in which they expressed their congratulatory remarks.
Leader of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, His Grace, Father, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian gave his blessing, expressed his appreciation and referred to the day as a truly historic day since the house of the Poet of All Armenians would soon serve its goal again. On behalf of the Diocese, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian assumed the duty to renovate the house and furbish it with necessary items. Afterwards, President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Eduard Militonian and secretary of the Union of Writers of Georgia Maghvala Gonashvili signed a memorandum of cooperation, to which the “Vernatun” Union of Armenian Writers of Georgia, the Hayartun Center and the “Kamurj” Armenian-Georgian Cultural Relations NGO also joined.
P.S.: Great Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanian’s house in Tbilisi is located at 18 Amaghleba Street (formerly Davitashvili Street) where Tumanian lived between the years of 1909 and 1923. In 1952, the items were moved to Yerevan. Four of the six rooms had been turned into a library, and the other two had been left for the writer’s inheritors. After independence, due to certain circumstances, Tbilisi Municipality transferred a part of the library to a citizen of Georgia, from whom it was necessary to obtain the house.
