LEVON SHANT

Birthdate: 1869
Death date: 1951

Levon Shant (born Levon Seghoposian on April 6, 1869 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire - died November 29, 1951 in Beirut; Lebanon), was an Armenian playwright, novelist, poet, and founder of the Hamazkayin National Cultural Foundation.

He was a life-long member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and is the namesake of the ARF's Shant Student Association.Attended Armenian school at Scutari (Uskudar) until 1883, then to the Gevorgian seminary at Echmiadzin until 1891. Returned to Constantinople to teach and write; his first literary work accepted by Hairenik of Constantinople in that year.

To Germany in 1892 for seven years to study science, child psychology, education, literature and history: Leipzig, Jena and Munich. Returned to settle in Constantinople. Joined the Dashnak party. Worked as a writer and teacher. As an author most renowned for his plays: Hin Astvadsner ('Ancient Gods', 1909), Kaisre ('The Emperor', 1914), Inkads Berdi Ishkhanuhin ('The Princess of the Fallen Castle', 1921), Oshin Payl (1929). One of the vice-presidents of the Armenian Parliament during the Republic. Led the Armenian delegation to Moscow in April 1920 to negotiate with the Communists. Left Armenia after its Sovietisation, eventually settling in Beirut. One of the founders of the Hamazkayin cultural association. Principal of the Nshan Palandjian Djemaran (College), Beirut, from 1929 until his death. His works were published in Soviet Armenia in 1968.

Levon Shant is regarded by many as the greatest Armenian playwright. His plays The Emperor and Ancient Gods remain among the most frequently staged Armenian dramas. His symbolist drama Ancient Gods (1908) revolutionized the Armenian literary world when it made its debut in Tiflis in 1913. Translated into German, Italian, French, and Russian, it was directed by Stanislavksy in 1917.