Famous Armenians who died in 2013

The year 2013 was a period of losses for the intellectual circles of Armenia, as many famous and loved representatives of culture and art departed this life.

Among them was Sos Sargsyan, a merited cinema and theatre actor and the forefather of the Armenian theatrical art. The president of the Armenian Theatrical Figures and the head of the Hamazgayin (Pan-national) theatre, Sargsyan died on September 26 at the age of 84.

His roles played in the films “Guys from the Army Band”, “Triangle”, “Nahapet” (Patriarch), “Apple Garden”, “Dzori Miro”, “Gikor” etc. brought the actor a great fame and popularity.

Azat Gasparyan, a popular and loved cinema and theatre actor, died in August. A people’s artist of Armenia and a laureate of the Armenian SSR award, the actor worked at the Yerevan Theater of the Young Spectator (1970-1972) and the Drama Theatre (1972-1980). He later played in televised performances, as well as at the Yerevan-based Metro theatre. From 1986 onwards, Gasparyan was an actor at the Sundukyan Academic Theatre.

He played in many films produced by the Hayfilm and Mosfilm studios. He was also a leading actor in many radio performances.

On January 15, 2013, Vladimir Abajyan, a people’s actor and a master of the Armenian variety and cinema art, passed away. He was 86.

Showman, actor and TV anchor Mark Saghatelyan, who was a double champion of the popular Russian show “Club of the Witty and Inventive” (KVN), passed away on July 31 at the age of 41. He died shortly after being hospitalized and diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Levon Ananyan, a merited writer and a longtime president of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, died on Sepember 2 aged 67.

The renowned fiction writer, dramatist and journalist Vrezh Israelyan was found dead in his apartment on June 14. He was aged 64. A journalist by profession, Israelyan was for many years an editor for the State Television and Radio Commission’s weekly, Hayreniki Dzayn (Voice of Fatherland).

In the 1990’s he was the editor of the Defense Ministry’s official newspaper, Zinvor. From 1999 onwards, Israelyan was a public relations officer at the Ministry. His first stories were published in the Garun (Spring) magazine.

Poet Hrachyan Beyleryan died on December 13 at the age of 61. Beyleryan was famous for his literary translations which have been published in the Armenian literary press. He translated pieces by Russian and Japanese classic poets. A member of the Writers’ Union since 1984, he was the author of the books “Mher’s Door” (1986) and “The Twilight” (2004).

Yervand Yengibaryan, an actor of the Russian Drama Theatre Named after Stanislavsky, was killed in a tragic car accident on October 22. The actor was also known to the Armenian spectator from movies. He played in the films Killed Dove and Move with a Knight.

2013 was also a year of losses for the Armenian media. Naira Mamikonyan, a journalist of the Aravot daily, and Genofia Martirosyan, a longtime journalist of the Russian language newspaper Respublika Armenia and the editor-in-chief of Hayastani Zrucakits, died on January 20 and October 22, respectively.