Paruyr Sevak

On 2018, the third series of Dram banknotes were printed, featuring Sevak on the 1000 Dram note.

Sevak died on June 17, 1971 in a car crash while on a drive back to Yerevan. In previous years, he had voiced his criticism of the corruption of the Soviet establishment and for this, many Armenians believe, he was murdered by the Soviet government. His wife, Nelly Menagharishvili, also died in the car crash. He was buried in the backyard of his home, in Zangakatun, which later became a museum open to everyone.

In 1967 Sevak became a doctor of philology after dissertation defense. In 1968 he was elected to the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR.

In 1960 Sevak returns to Yerevan and starts his fecund and meaningful literary, scientific and public activism. He starts to work at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature as a scientific researcher. From 1966-1971 Sevak served as the Secretary of the Board of the Writers Union of Armenia.

Paruyr Sevak (Armenian: Պարույր Սևակ; January 24, 1924 – June 17, 1971) was an Armenian poet, translator and literary critic. He is considered one of the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century.

Sevak was born Paruyr Ghazaryan (Armenian: Պարույր Ղազարյան) in Chanakhchi (now Zangakatun) village, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union to Rafael Ghazaryan and Anahit Soghomonyan on January 24, 1924. Young Paruyr attended the village school. Sevak spent the part of his childhood and adolescence in a location called Navchalu yayla (near Zangakatun) and in his early writings, he signed his writings with ‘Navchalu’ as the location where they were written. Later in 1940 moved to Yerevan to study at the philological faculty of Yerevan State University. He graduated from the YSU in 1945. The same year he starts a postgraduate study of Armenian literature at the Academy of Sciences Abeghyan Institute of Literature. In 1951 Sevak went to Moscow to study at the Gorky Institute of World Literature. Graduating from that institute Paruyr works there in 1957-59 as a translating professor.