Shiraz, Ovanes

(real surname, Karapetian). Born Apr. 12 (25), 1914, in Aleksandropol’, now Leninakan. Soviet Armenian poet.

The son of a peasant, Shiraz studied at the University of Yerevan from 1937 to 1941. He was first published in 1935. He is the author of the lyric verse collections The Advent of Spring (1935), Song of Armenia (1940), The Voice of a Poet (1942), Book ofSongs (1942), and Lyric Poetry (1946). He also wrote the philosophic narrative poem Biblical (1944), which deals with the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45. Shiraz extolled Socialist Armenia in such narrative poems as Land of Happiness (1937), Razdan (1947), and The Names of Our Villages (1950). His poems are characterized by turbulent spontaneity, vividness of imagery, and fidelity to the traditional language of Armenian poetry. Some of Shiraz’ works have been translated into other languages of the USSR.