February 4^th marks the birthday of Zabel Yesayan, who was a prose writer, a public, political and national figure of her times and a great patriot. On this occasion, I had an interesting interview with Yesayan’s grandson, Alexander Yesayan at the editorial office of Hayern Aysor electronic newspaper.

The remarkable person sitting in front of me is the grandson of Zabel Yesayan, one of the exceptionally worthy Armenian woman prose writers, the son of Yesayan’s son Hrant, a candidate of biological sciences and Director of the Institute for Biological Research Alexander Yesayan whose presence at our editorial office was simply a phenomenon, and I talked to the grandson of the courageous writer with pleasure and admiration. Although he hasn’t seen his grandmother, he knows about her life and career in detail.

Karine Avagyan: Mr. Yesayan, we perceived you as a precious part of Zabel Yesayan the legend living in our days and by our side. Who is Zabel Yesayan for you-a writer, a public-political figure, merely a grandmother or a part of your heart?

Alexander Yesayan: First of all, she is a part of my heart, a grandmother and then a person with all of her advantages and descriptions. Unfortunately, I was born 10 years after her death, but my mother and paternal aunt Sofi have told me so much about her at home that it seems as though I have lived with her. I take pride in the fact that I am her grandson and try to do something to keep her memory alive and make her more recognizable. Unfortunately, she is more popular in the Diaspora and in Artsakh, but in Armenia, writers and intelligentsia know more about Zabel Yesayan. I think this is my flaw, and I have to work harder in that sense.

Karine Avagyan: You said people in Artsakh know more about her, especially schoolchildren. How come?

Alexander Yesayan: On September 10, 2017, the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh announced about an essay contest devoted to Zabel Yesayan (Why is human rights protection important? Zabel Yesayan’s experience in human rights protection). The participants were high school students. The essays were very interesting. The contest ended in December, and I was a member of the contest committee. Out of the nearly 60 participants, 12 schoolchildren won, but on behalf of our family, we granted gifts to all 60 participants because participation is also appreciated. On September 1, the start of the new school year, I was in Artsakh to participate in the opening of the school after Zabel Yesayan in the borderline Arajamut village (the school was capitally renovated under the sponsorship of Tufenkian Foundation) that had been expanded and on the occasion of Independence Day.

Karine Avagyan: Is there any other school, classroom, school, nominal scholarship or literary award named after Zabel Yesayan?

Alexander Yesayan: As far as I know, there is no other school in Armenia that is named after her. There is a narrow street named after Yesayan, but there is no classroom or scholarship named after her. I intend to prepare a panel at the museum of Yerevan State University on the occasion of Zabel Yesayan’s 140^th birth anniversary. The museum will feature Zabel’s photos, book covers and pieces of her manuscripts.

Karine Avagyan: As a reader, which of Zabel Yesayan’s works is closer to your heart?

Alexander Yesayan: “The Gardens of Silihtar”. I often open the other books, read a little and close them so that I can read them later.

Karine Avagyan: Are there preserved original works and manuscripts? Is there any work that she wrote in prison?

Alexander Yesayan: No, nothing has been preserved. I know she wrote something on a small embroidered handkerchief dipped in her blood in prison, but that hasn’t been preserved. There is nothing besides the letters. Even the details about her death are unknown…

Karine Avagyan: Have you ever thought that she might be living…Perhaps this is impossible, but it is a hypothesis.

Alexander Yesayan: I have thought about that and decided to address the Archives of Karaganda. Perhaps I can receive information about her death because there is a letter that she wrote in 1943. Perhaps she had simply made a mistake by writing 1943 because there are hypotheses according to which she died in 1937 after being tortured in a prison in Baku…

Karine Avagyan: What about the house where the writer lived between 1933 and 1936? Is there any plaque or at least a sign on the wall of the building?

Alexander Yesayan: She lived at the beginning of Abovyan Street. If you recall, there was a big bookstore there. The house was in front of the bookstore. It is still there. Nobody knows whom the house was granted to after her arrest. It was given to others, but my father and sister stayed on that street.

Karine Avagyan: Have you ever visited the writer’s birthplace and the gardens of Silihtar in her beloved Skyutar?

Alexander Yesayan: Unfortunately, I haven’t had the luck. I have only imagined myself there.

Karine Avagyan: Which of your sons has followed in their grandmother’s footsteps? Are there any writers in your family?

Alexander Yesayan: My sons are not writers, but my daughter is named Zabel Yesayan. It is an honor for her and makes her feel proud.

Karine Avagyan: Zabel Yesayan’s works were published in the 1960s. Haven’t they been published in our days? Are they being translated?

Alexander Yesayan: They haven’t been republished in Armenia. Translators and publishers are translating and publishing them in the United States, France and Turkey. The book “In Ruins” has been translated and published in Turkey.

That book has already been published for the second time in France, but in few copies. In the United States, Boston-Armenian Judy Sarian, who is obsessed with Zabel Yesayan, published 4 of Yesayan’s books. Currently, Karine Khalatova is preparing a book devoted to Zabel Yesayan in Russian. On March 7, 2017, the President of the Republic of Armenia had a meeting with Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo. During the meeting, the mayor gave a wonderful speech and informed that Paris has decided to name a street in Paris after Zabel Yesayan. The Americans are very interested in Zabel Yesayan, who serves as a symbol of a woman writer and a courageous public and political figure. In that sense, she is an exceptional woman and is classified as one of the world’s 5 bravest women. Zabel Yesayan is also considered one of the 100 Armenians who have changed the world.

After such an interview, Armenians can feel proud again and again and have a sense of responsibility as the worthy descendants of Zabel Yesayan the writer and the courageous woman.

Karine Avagyan