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Yeghishe Charents


Yeghishe Charents was born Yeghishe Abgari Soghomonyan in Kars (Eastern Amenia, then a part of the Russian Empire) in 1897 to a family involved in the rug trade. His family hailed from the Armenian diaspora of Maku, Persia. He first attended an Armenian elementary school, but later transferred to a Russian technical secondary school in Kars from 1908 to 1912. He spent much of his time in reading. In 1912, he had his first poem published in the Armenian periodical Patani (Tiflis). Amid the upheavals of the First World War and the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, he volunteered to fight in a detachment in 1915 for the Caucasian Front.

Sent to Van in 1915, Charents was witness to the destruction that the Turkish garrison had laid upon the Armenian population, leaving indelible memories that would later be read in his poems. He left the front one year later, attending school at the Shanyavski People's University in Moscow. The horrors of the war and genocide had scarred Charents and he became a fervent supporter of the Bolsheviks, seeing them as the one true hope to saving Armenia.

Charents joined the Red Army and fought during the Russian Civil War as a rank and file soldier in Russia (Tsaritsin) and the Caucasus. In 1919, he returned to Armenia and took part in revolutionary activities there. A year later, he began work at the Ministry of Education as the director of the Art Department. Charents would also once again take up arms, this time against his fellow Armenians, as a rebellion took place against Soviet rule in February 1921. One of his most famous poems, I love the sun-sweet taste of the word Armenia, a lyric ode to his homeland, was composed in 1920-1921. Charents returned to Moscow in 1921 to study at the Institute of literature and Arts founded by Valeri Bryusov. In a manifesto issued in June 1922, known as the “Declaration of the Three,” signed by Charents, Gevorg Abov, and Azad Veshtuni, the young authors expressed their favour of "proletarian internationalism". In 1921-22 he wrote "Amenapoem" (Everyone's poem), and "Charents-name'", an autobiographical poem. Then, Charents published his satirical novel, Land of Nairi (Yerkir Nairi), which became a great success and repeatedly published in Russian in Moscow during the life of poet. In August 1934 Maxim Gorky presented him to the Soviet writers' first congress delegates with Here is our Land of Nairi.

The first part of Yerkir Nairi is dedicated to the description of public figures and places of Kars, and to the presentation of Armenian public sphere. According to Charents, his Yerkir Nairi is not visible, "it is an incomprehensible miracle: a horrifying secret, an amazing amazement". In the second part of novel, Kars and its leaders are seen during the WWI, and the third part tells about the fall of Kars and the destruction of the dream.

In 1924-1925 Charents went on a seven-month trip abroad, visiting Turkey, Italy (where he met Avetik Isahakyan), France, and Germany. When Charents returned, he founded a union of writers, November, and worked for the state publishing house from 1928 to 1935.

In 1930 Charents's book, "Epic Dawn", which consisted of poems he wrote in 1927-30, was published in Yerevan. It was dedicated to his first wife Arpenik.

His last collection of poems, "The Book of The Way", was printed in 1933, but its distribution was delayed by the Soviet government until 1934, when it was reissued with some revisions. In this book the authors lays out the panorama of Armenian history and reviews it part-by-part. William Saroyan met him in 1934 in Moscow and thereafter described him as a courtly, brilliant man who was desperately sad.

Charents also translated many works into Armenian, such as "The Internationale."



Excepting few poems in journals, Charents could publish nothing after 1934 (at the same time, in December 1935 Stalin asked an Armenian delegation how Charents is).

In July 1936, when Soviet Armenian leader Aghasi Khanjian was killed, Charents wrote a series of seven sonnets. After Komitas's death he wrote one of his last great works, "Requiem Æternam in Memory of Komitas" (1936).

Actress Arus Voskanyan told about her last visit to Charents: "He looked fragile but noble. He took some morphine and then read some Komitas. When I reached over to kiss his hand he was startled". He became a morphine addict under the pressure of the campaign against him and because he was suffering from colic, caused by a kidney stone. The hypodermic needle Charents used for his habit is on exhibit in his museum in Yerevan.

A victim of Stalinism, he was charged for "counterrevolutionary and nationalist activity" and imprisoned during the 1937 Great Purge. He died in prison hospital. All his books were also banned. Charent's younger friend, Regina Ghazaryan buried and saved many manuscripts of the Armenian poet. Charents was rehabilitated in 1954 after Stalin's death.

Sidney Sheldon

With a life as compelling as any of his best-selling novels, Sidney Sheldon has risen from small-time screenwriter to internationally famous novelist and a master storyteller.

Sidney Sheldon was born on 11th February 1917, in Chicago, USA, to a German Jewish father and a Russian Jewish mother. He began writing as a youngster and at the age of ten he made his first sale of a poem for $10. At seventeen, he decided to try his luck in Hollywood. The only job he could find was as a reader of prospective film material at Universal Pictures for $22 a week. During World War II, he served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. After the war he established a reputation as being a prolific writer in the New York theater community.

In a 1982 interview Sheldon told of how he created his novels; "I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down. I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."

Explaining why so many women bought his books, he once commented that: "I like to write about women, who are talented and capable, but most important, retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power, their femininity, because men can't do without it."
Sheldon had few fans among highbrow critics, whose reviews of his books were generally reproachful of both Sheldon and his readers. After a career that had earned him a Tony, an Oscar and an Emmy (for "I Dream of Jeannie"), Sheldon declared that his work as a novelist was his best work. "I love writing books," he once commented. "Movies are a collaborative medium, and everyone is second-guessing you. When you do a novel you're on your own. It's a freedom that doesn't exist in any other medium."


He was married for more than 30 years to Jorja Curtright Sheldon, a stage and film actress who later became a prominent interior decorator. After her death in 1985 he married Alexandra Sheldon, a former child actress and advertising executive, in 1989. Sheldon died January 30, 2007 of complications from pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California according with his wife, Alexandra, was by his side.
Along with his wife, Sheldon was survived by his daughter, author Mary Sheldon; his brother Richard and two grandchildren.

Sidney and Jorja had two daughters and tried to adopt a daughter:

· Mary Sheldon Dastin: Mary is an author. Mary has two daughters, Lizy and Rebecca.

· Alexandra Sheldon: Their second daughter, Alexandra, was born with spina bifida and died as an infant.

· Elizabeth Aprille: After losing Alexandra, as a family, they decided to adopt a baby, and Elizabeth Aprille entered their lives. One week shy of having Elizabeth for six months, the mother of the baby wanted her back. Elizabeth was returned to her parents the next day.

· Jane Harding Kaufman: Jane was from New york. Two months after meeting, they married in 1945 only to divorce 2 years later.

· Jorja Curtright: Born on August 14, 1923 in Amarillo, Texas, Jorja considered her home town as Mena, Arkansas. Sidney met Jorja, an actress and interior decorator, in 1950 at the MGM commissary.

They eloped to Las Vegas and were married on March 28, 1951. Their three month honeymoon in Europe included stops in London, Paris, Rome, and Venice. Their marriage ended when Jorja died of a heart attack on May 11, 1985 in Los Angeles, California.

Sidney about the women in his life: "... I really don't believe in the "dumb blonde" myth. The fact that my female characters have strong personalities but are also physically attractive probably reflects the women I've known in my life. My mother, who was faced with raising a family during the Depression and worked at a retail store until she was in her 70's, my late wife, Jorja, and my current wife, Alexandra, epitomize the type of woman who is intelligent, purposeful and resourceful, but never at the expense of her femininity."

Sidney about Jorja (first wife) : "I began seeing Jorja every evening. The more I saw of her, the more I knew that I was in love. She had a wonderful, wicked sense of humor, and we laughed a lot. We became closer and closer. At the end of three months, I took her in my arms and said, 'Let's get married.' We eloped to Vegas the next day."

Sidney about Alexandra Kostoff (second wife): "It was a little over three years later when it happened. I met Alexandra Kostoff and my life changed. She is all the women I had written about -- intelligent, beautiful, and amazingly talented, and it was love at first sight."

Sidney about the loss of their baby: "If there is a hell on earth, it exists for parents who have lost a child. There is an unspeakable grief that never entirely goes away. We could not stop thinking about Alexandra and Mary growing up together, having a wonderful, happy life, sheltered by our love. But Alexandra would never watch a sunset or walk through a beautiful garden. She would never see a flight of birds or feel a warm summer breeze. She would never taste an ice cream cone or enjoy a movie or a play. She would never wear pretty dresses or ride in a car. She would never know the joy of falling in love, and having a family. Never, never, never. There is a belief that as time goes on, the pain diminishes.

The Essence of education at our school

Mkhitar Sebastatsi” educational complex was founded in 1989. It was named after an eminent Armenian scholar of the 17-18th centuries Mkhitar Sebastatsy, the founder of Mkhitaryan Unity at St Lazar Island, Venice.

An author alternative educational programme is realized in “Mkhitar Sebastatsi’ Educomplex.

The Educomplex implements “Creator’s school, Individual’s Educational Order, Media Public Education” programme. The Internet, computer literacy and Foreign Languages are taught and used from the1st grade. Individual and group tuition is implemented which develops students’ creative-research qualities and skills through computer programs and other digital means.

 Learning environment promotes children’s development and self-expression. They are also given an opportunity to select an activity, including lessons in specialized workshop-studios conducted by high skilled specialists. Educational complex initiates  distance learning programs to help children gain more knowledge through modern technologies.

Teachers and students attend school with their own notebooks and netbooks.

  The guests of the Educomplex are provided with accomodation at the guest home of the Educomplex.

 There are interactive whiteboards almost in all the classrooms. Smart technologies are put in learning process. All the classrooms are equipped with regular supply of the Internet. Educomplex  is a free wi-fi zone.

 Pre-school General Development

 Hygienic and safe environment is set up for the 2-3 years old children’s care as well as for the general development of 3-5 years old children. There are pre-school groups for 5 years old children. 

Basic education with the usage of Internet, Foreign Languages and Computer programs

 There are 20-22 learners in a class in the 1-6th grades with basic learning skills. The educational program aims to include different sides of children’s activities and interests. Three hours in a week are assigned to the selective activity of the learners in the 5-6th grades. (Foreign Languages, painting, Music, sports, Natural science, technology, mathematics, journalism, arts and crafts).

Middle School

 Development of preferences at the 7-9th grades. Independent thinking, individualism and manifestation of citizenship are promoted. Four lessons in a week are assigned to learners’ preferences: photojournalism, journalism,  foreign  languages-translation, design-modeling, painting, musician, sports, country studies, stagecraft, mathematician-programmer, naturalist, radio technologist.

High school

 High school offers various programs for the10-12th grades – advanced mathematics and computer programming, architecture, engineering, painting and computer graphics, design and modeling, TV journalism and TV operator, Natural sciences, radio electronics and computer programs, Foreign Languages and translation, law and sociology, pedagogy and social work, music, sport. Tutors are famous figures of modern art, scientists, and skilled specialists. Upon student’s requests, preparation courses to University examinations and other additional programs are realized.

Vocational High school

 Offers programs for the 10-12th grades of vocational learning such as  decorative design, art of applied decoration, technical service and restoration of radio electronic means, usage of computers, technical service and restoration of computers, hotel management, hairdressing and decorative make-up, photography, food specialists, gardening, sewing, carpentry, construction-engineering.

Qualifying courses of a Craftsman

Vocational learning on the basis of secondary and main education During 6-12 month long courses the learner acquires one of the professions given above, and if wishes can be included in the course of Foreign Languages, computer programs, applied economy, accountant, of Law and gets state quality of a craftsman.

 State Career College

 Offered professions are: elementary school teacher, music teacher, teacher of physical culture and sports, teacher of painting and drawing, applied art and folk crafts, computer graphics, design-modeling, architect-engineer. Modern learning in the technically filled center of professional development. The opportunity to learn Foreign Languages and computer programs. The graduates get diploma.

 Students participate in different clubs, due to their preferences:  Robotics, English club, Scholars’ club, Space club, Club of human rights activists, etc.

Annual alternative media festivals, Educational Digitech, Music festivals are held.  Each person or organization may participate.

 Media Olympiads

 Learners from the Educomplex and other public educational institutions of Armenia and abroad can take part in our Olympiads.

Further Educational Programs

offer additional education for the individuals – music, fine arts, TV photo journalism, sports, computer programming, Foreign Languages (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Georgian and Arabic), natural science, etc.

Soghomon (Gevorgi) Soghomonyan was born into a family whose members were deeply involved in music and were monolingual in Turkish. His mother died when he was one, and his father died ten years later. His grandmother looked after him until 1881, when a prelate of the local Armenian diocese went to Echmiadzin to be consecrated a bishop. The catholicosGevork IV ordered him to bring one orphaned child to be educated at the Echmiadzin Seminary. Soghomon was chosen among 20 candidates and admitted into the seminary (where he impressed the catholicos with his singing talent) and graduated in 1893, after which he became a monk. According to church tradition, newly ordained priests are given new names, and Soghomon was renamed Komitas (named after the seventh-century Armenian catholicos who was also a hymn writer). Two years later, he became a priest and obtained the title Vardapet (or Vartabed), meaning a "priest" or a "church scholar."

He established and conducted the monastery choir until 1896, when he went to Berlin, enrolled in the Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm University and studied music at the private conservatory of Prof. Richard Schmidt. In 1899, he acquired the title Doctor of Musicology and returned to Echmiadzin, where he took over conducting a polyphonic male choir. He traveled extensively around the country, listening to and recording details about Armenian folk songs and dances performed in various villages. This way, he collected and published some 3000 songs, many of them adapted to choir singing.

His major work is Badarak (Divine Liturgy), still used today as one of the two most popular musical settings of the Armenian Church liturgy or mass. Today the best-known version of Badarak is his favourite for a four-voiced male choir. The words certainly are not original but are the text of the Armenian mass, which has been used for centuries. Armenian Church music was traditionally monophonic, but MakarYekmalian, Komitas, and several other musician/composers in the 19th and 20th centuries arranged polyphonic versions of the pre-existing melodies. Some composers (but not Komitas or Yekmalian) created completely original musical settings of the liturgy as well.

He was the first non-European to be admitted into the International Music Society, of which he was a co-founder. He gave many lectures and performances throughout Europe, Turkey and Egypt, thus presenting till then very little known Armenian music.

From 1910, he lived and worked in Istanbul. There, he established a 300-member choir, Gusan. On April 24, 1915, the day when the Armenian Genocide officially began, he was arrested and put on a train. The next day together with 180 other Armenian notables and sent to the city of Çankırı in northern Central Anatolia. By special orders from Taliat Pasha, Komitas was dispatched (ուղարկվեց )back to the capital alongside eight other Armenians who had been deported during which Komitas suffered tremendously and was afflicted with traumatic neurosis.                 

    The Norman Coquest

                                                    

In the  IX century while the  Danes were plundering  England another brunch of Northmen,who related to the Danes were doing  the  same along the Northern coast of France.

Soon they attacked Franch and  conquered  the  Northmans theritory of France  from  Franch king  and  settled down  then they  established a new  settlment and called Normandy.By the time they  became very powerful  and rich.By XI   century the  dukes  of Normandy  had become very powerful. Thoough they acknowledged the king of France as their overlord, they were actually as strong as their overlord.

In 1066 the Duke of Normandy, William began to gather an army to invade Britain. He was related to the English king Edward, who died in 1066. According to the English law if the king left a grown-up son he was almost sure to be chosen as a king; if not , the king’s council of wise men would offer the crown to some other close relative of the dead king. Edward had no children , and William hoped to succeed to the English throne. But the Witengemot chose another relative of the king, the Anglo- Saxon Earl, Harold. William got angry and felt cheated, so he began to prepare for an overwhelming campaign aiming to sweep Anglo- Saxon rulers off the British throne forever. In the careful preparations  for invasion William showed himself at his best. He got papal approval for his expedition, instead he promised Pope to strengthen the Pope’s power over the English church. Throughout the spring and summer of 1066 ships were built and military supplies were assembled.

By August 1066 Wiliam’s force was ready. If he had managed to defeat the English , he would then have  had to face another contender for the throne, Harold Hardrada, the king of Norway and the famous Viking warior , who also claimed to the English throne. The battle between the Normans and the Anglo – Saxons took place on the 14-th of October, 1066,at a little village in the neighbourhood of the town, Now called Hastigs.

William’s army was superior to that of the Saxons. King Harold was killed in the battle, and thogh the Anglo- Saxons went on fighting the Normans won the victory of them. But the victory at Hastings was only   the beginning of the Conquest. It took several years for William to subdue the whole of England. Soon after the victory at Hastings the Normans  sieged London and William was  declared King of England. He was crowned in Westminster on December 25th.

William  the first, or as he was generally known, William the Conqueror, ruled England for 21 years(1066-1087). During the firs 5 years of his reign the Normans had to put down many  rebellions in different parts of the country. To strengthen himself  the Conqueror declared that all the land in England belonged to him by the right of conquest, the forest-lands which made up one- third of the country belonged to him too.

Thus the king of England became the richest feudal, lord of all.

In 1086 at a great gathering of knights in Salisbury, William made all of them take a special oath to be true to him against all his enemies.

William devided the country into sheries, as the Normans called them . William appointed royal official in each share to be his “sheriff”.  To make himself stronger than any of his nobles, William ordered to build a lot  of castles in different parts of the country. No other peson was allowed to build a castle without his permission. During William’s reign, many cathedrals and castles werw built. The construction of the Tower of London began.

In 1086 William the Conqueror sent his men all over England , into every share to find out what property  every inhabitant of all England possessed in land, cattle and all these writings were broubht to him. That was the first registration in England. That is why , probably the book in which all these accounts were written was called  Domesday Book.

William the first established strond central government  in England.

He replaced the Witengamot by  the Great Council, which consisted of Bishops and Barons to help him govern the country.

I believe that parents have more influence on their childrenthan classmates do. Classmates have greater influence on each other especially when they get older, but the influence of parents is stronger than this, parents are the most important model of a child’s base, parents love their children, and they have expectations of them.For example when parents regularly keep in check their children, but this has both negative and positive effect.  Whenparents do this too much their children lose their self-confidence and fail to feel free in their surroundings.
Parents are important models for their children. Young children like to copy other children, but they like to copy adults more. When children see their parents read, they read too. When children hear parent’s talk about books or news or politics, they think these are interesting subject too.Many people have influence on children while they are growing up but parents have the strongest influence. Nobody can influence a child more than parents.Parents shape their children from the beginning of their lives. They teach their children values. They share their interests with them. They develop close emotional ties with them.Another problem is that parents sometimes expect   their children interests to be similar to their own. If the parents have love for any kind of Science they may try to force their child to love science too. But what if the child prefers art or sports?.Parents shape their children from the beginning of their lives. They teach their children values. They share their interests with them. They develop close emotional ties with them.Parents can be very important teachers in their life however they are not always the best.

 Parents may be too close to their children emotionally. For example; Parents limit a child’s freedom in the name of safety. A teacher may organize an educational trip to a big city. But a parent may think this trip is too dangerous. A schoolorganizes to take the children camping, but a parent may be afraid of the child getting hurt.

Tsisernakaberd

The memorial sits on one of three hills along the Hrazdan River that carry the name Tsitsernakaberd, and was the site of what was once an Iron Age fortress. Most of the above ground traces at this peak have since disappeared, but upon the smaller hill are still traces of a castle. Archaeological surveys took place in 2007, and excavations uncovered a wall that is hundreds of metres long and may still be seen in many places above ground. An altar cut from stone sits in the middle of a square at the edge of one of the hills, and large stones that weigh approximately two tons are still visible that cover graves from the second millennium BC. Apartments were later built along the hills during Roman times, and were built over with other structures during medieval years. Nearby are also the remains of a very large building with a cave.Construction of the memorial began in 1966 (during Soviet times) in response to the 1965 Yerevan demonstrations during which one million people demonstrated in Yerevan for 24 hours to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Genocide. The memorial is designed by architects Arthur Tarkhanyan, Sashur Kalashyan and artist Hovhannes Khachatryan.It was completed in November 1967.The 44 meter stele symbolizes the national rebirth of Armenians. 12 slabs are positioned in a circle, representing the 12 lost provinces in present day Turkey. In the center of the circle, at a depth of 1.5 meters, there is an eternal flame dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians killed during the Armenian Genocide.

Along the park at the memorial there is a 100 meter wall with names of towns and villages where massacres are known to have taken place. On the rear side of the commemoration wall, plates have been attached to honor persons who have committed themselves to relieving the distress of the victims during and after the genocide (among others: Johannes Lepsius, Franz Werfel, Armin T. Wegner, Henry Morgenthau Sr., Fridtjof Nansen, Pope Benedict XV, Jakob Künzler, Bodil Biørn).

As an act of commemoration of the victims, an alley of trees has been planted.

Armenian Genocide Museum

The Armenian Genocide Museum opened its doors in 1995, concurrently commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the Genocide. The Museum structure, planned by architects S. Kalashian, A. Tarkhanyan and sculptor F. Araqelyan, has a unique design. Since opening its doors, the Museum has received many thousands of visitors including schoolchildren, college students and huge numbers of tourists from outside Armenia. The museum provides guided tours in Armenian, Russian, English, French and German. The Republic of Armenia has made visiting the Armenian Genocide Museum part of the official State protocol and many official foreign delegations have already visited the Museum. These delegations have included Pope John Paul II, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of France Jacques Chirac, and other well-known social and political figures. The museum contains historical documents and is open to the public for tours.

The impressive two-story building is built directly into the side of a hill so as not to detract from the imposing presence of the Genocide Monument nearby. The roof of the Museum is flat and covered with concrete tiles. It overlooks the scenic Ararat Valley and majestic Mount Ararat. The first floor of the Museum is subterranean and houses the administrative, engineering and technical maintenance offices as well as Komitas Hall, which seats 170 people. Here also are situated the storage rooms for museum artifacts and scientific objects, as well as a library and a reading hall. The Museum exhibit is located on the second floor in a space just over 1,000 square meters in size. There are three main indoor exhibit halls and an outer gallery with its own hall. The Genocide Monument is designed to memorialize the innocent victims of the first Genocide of the 20th century. The Genocide Museum’s mission is rooted in the fact that understanding the Armenian Genocide is an important step in preventing similar future tragedies, in keeping with the notion that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

The current director of the Museum is Dr. Hayk Demoyan.