Maari, Gurgen

(pen name of Gurgen Grigor’evich Adzhemian). Born Aug. 1(14), 1903, in Van, Western Armenia; died June 17, 1969, in Yerevan. Soviet Armenian writer.

Maari was the son of a schoolteacher. In 1915, along with other refugees, he left Turkey to settle in Russia. He began to publish in 1917. His first collection of poetry, The Titanic, was published in 1924. Maari’s early poetry shows the influence of various literary schools and is far removed from life. In the collection Shirak Canal (1925), the poet attempts to come to grips with the new socialist reality. In the collection Time for the Ripening of the Fruit (1930), Maari’s original lyric talent is most fully apparent.

In 1929, Maari published the book of short stories On Love, Jealousy, and the Gardeners of Nice. His trilogy Childhood (1929), Youth (1930), and On the Threshold of Young Manhood (1955) tells about the tragic fate of t’he western branch of the Armenian people on the eve of and during World War I; it depicts the hardships that befell Armenian refugees from Turkey during the rule of the Dashnaks.

Maari published the verse collection The Winepress (1960), the historical novel The Gardens Are Burning (1966), and the book of memoirs Charents-name (1968). Maari’s work influenced the development of Soviet Armenian literature. He was awarded the order of the Badge of Honor.