Notable writer, remarkable Lebanese-Armenian cultural figure, longstanding teacher, journalist and public figure, the beloved Bebo Simonian (Bedros Galaijian) has passed away in Beirut, as the board of the Union of Writers of Armenia reports to “Armenpress”.

Bebo Simonian was born in 1937 in Alexandria. In 1939, he and his family moved to Beirut where he received his primary education at the Nshan Palanchian College and at the monastery for scholars of Antelias, after which he went on to graduate from the Armenology section of the Department of Eastern Scholastics at Sen Josef French University. For more than 40 years, Bebo Simonian was involved in teaching and journalism. He was also a member of the Union of Armenian Writers of Lebanon and the Union’s secretariat and wrote for the “Kamargrakan” and “Shirak” newspapers.

Bebo Simonian was an author of several verses, prose works, critiques and social-political articles. The more outstanding collections of his poems are “Prelude” (Nakhergank) (1968), “Myth of the Greens” (Kanachneru Araspele) (1977), “Humans” (Mardeghutyun) (1981), “Cry of Trees” (Tsarin Tchiche) (1991) and “In Front of the Lights of the Mediterranean” (Mijerkrakani Luyserun Dimats) (2004). Among his remarkable works of prose are “Shred Shred” (TsvenTsven) (1981), “Roots of Cedars” (Mairenineru Armatnere) (1986) and “Instants in the Days of Man and Life” (Akntartner Mardu yev Kyanki Aroryayen) (2012). The studies on Bebo Simonian’s literature are summed up in two volumes of the book “Pages and Materials of Literature” released in 2012.

Bebo Simonian’s merit was properly appreciated. His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos awarded him the Mesrop Mashtots Order, and in 2012, Bebo Simonian was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi Medal by the President of the Republic of Armenia. The merit of the marvelous writer and intellectual devoted to the nation served as a strong bridge between Armenia and the Diaspora and will continue to live in the hearts of the true lovers of art for a long time.