Yervant Odian (1869-1926)

Mavi Boncuk |

Yervant Odian (b. Istanbul 1869, d. Cairo 1926) was no stranger to the events of Avni stories. He is considered to be the 2nd most influential Armenian satirist (the 1st being Hagop Baronian). Odian's writings, which include pornos and short stories, often humorously point out humanity's vices. He had the unique ability to conceive of and write stories at any given instant. He studied in France, Italy and Romania and a year at Berberian College.In 1915, Yervant Odian avoided falling victim to the Armenian disturbances by becoming a translator for German officials in Turkey, since he knew many languages such as German, Turkish, and French. In 1918, after World War I, he took up the responsibility of collecting orphans left over from deportations in the deserts of Syria and placing them in orphanages. His only real source of income was through his writing. He returned to istanbul in 1919 and left with the end of occupation in 1922. Odian spent the last days of his life in Cairo, where he was buried.


Odian's most famous works include "Enger Panchooni (Comrade Clueless)" and the Don Quichote of the Armenian political world and "Dasnuergoo dari Bolsen Toors (12 years out of Istanbul)".

Comrade Panchoonia (Good-for-nothing) represents an Armenian Revolutionary propagandist who is assigned by his party to visit the provinces and revive the nationalistic spirit among the people. The book is a series of letters in which he reports his activities and adventures to his superiors.

In Panchoonie's character the psychology of Armenian nationalistic parties is mercilessly ridiculed. And it could not have been an easy thing for Odian to do: to point up the weaknesses and follies of movements that sought, no matter how ineffectually, to serve the national interest.







Dasnuergoo dari Bolsen Toors /12 years out of Istanbul
Istanbul, 1922 407 pages

See Also:Armenian-language-and-armenian-studies from mavi Boncuk Archives
Excerpt on Yervant Odian

"I discussed examples of this in a talk on the use of Turkish in modern Armenian. There are times where the Turkish allows you to make a word-play that you couldn't in Armenian, or vice versa. You may want to rhyme two words, but the rhyme won't work with the Armenian but it will with the Turkish, or vice versa.

The writer Yervant Odian referred to one Armenian official in the Ottoman Parliament as "the ox-cart of Turkish authority," and he used the Turkish phrase for a specific reason. It wasn't because he couldn't think of the Armenian expression, which was very basic. It implies that this official was more connected to the Turkish lines of authority than the Armenian community. In Turkish, the word for ox also stirs up the connotation of being an idiot, but in Armenian it wouldn't necessarily be activated. People need to bear in mind that when you use foreign words, it's not as simple as their being ignorant or lazy. There are reasons for everything we do, whether or not we are aware of them. People shouldn't be condemned for using Russian or Turkish or English."