26.09.2024


Today is the 155th anniversary of the birth of the renowned composer, musicologist, folklore collector, and teacher Komitas Vardapet (Soghomon Soghomonian, 1869-1935).

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"I was born on September 26, 1869 in the city of Kütahya in Asia Minor. My father was Gevorg Soghomonian of Kütahya and my mother was Taguhi Hovhannisian of Brussa.
I was baptized three days after my birth and named Soghomon.
I became an orphan in my childhood; my mother died on March 15, 1870 and my father, on May 17, 1879. After my par¬ents’ death I was brought up by my paternal grandmother Mariam. She was a second mother for me and seriously took care of my future.
I had no sister or brother and remained the only-begotten son.”

Komitas Vardapet, "Autobiography"

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Komitas Vardapet was among the Armenian intellectuals arrested on April 24, 1915, and exiled to Chankiri. Following the intervention of influential figures, he was later returned to Constantinople. However, the trauma of his exile led to severe psychological suffering, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For the remainder of his life, Komitas lived in psychiatric clinics in Constantinople and Paris. Komitas passed away on October 22, 1935, at Villejuif Psychiatric Hospital in Paris. In 1936, his ashes were transferred and interred in the pantheon of Armenian cultural figures in Yerevan, Armenia, which was later named after Komitas.





Photo: Soghomon Soghomonyan as the 6th year student at Gevorgian Theological Seminary, Holy Etchmiadzin, 17 March 1890,
© Museum of Literature and Art after Yeghishe Charents

Seda Parsamyan
AGMI Researcher, Department of Organizing Museum Exhibitions