Armenian writer Perch Zeytuntsyan dies at 79  

Armenian playwright, screenwriter and translator Perch Zeytuntsyan died on Monday at age 79, a spokesperson for his daughter, Head of the State Tourism Committee Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, told Tert.am.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1938, Zeytuntsyan was repatriated to Armenia when he was only 10.

After completing his secondary education in Yerevan, he studied at the Pyatigorsk Institute of Foreign Languages (Russia). He later also specialized in scenario art in Moscow.

From 1965 down to 1975, Zeytuntsyan worked for the national film studio Hayfilm, being its editor and later also editor-in-chief. He later joined the Writers’ Union, where he worked as a secretary until 1986. After Armenia’s independence in 1991, he was the country’s first minister of culture. In 1989, Zeytuntsyan was honored as a merited artist of Soviet Armenia.  

An author of 12 plays staged in different theaters of Yerevan, the writer published his first book in 1956. His works have been translated into 11 languages, including Russian, English, French and Arabic.

Zeytuntsyan is a double laureate of a state award, a merited artist and a member of the Tiberina Academy of Rome.