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August 15 marks 96th birthday anniversary of renowned Armenian poet, translator and publicist Vahagn Davtyan.

Born in 1922 in the town of Arapgir in Western Armenia (modern Turkey), Davtyan’s family temporarily housed at Russia’s Krasnodar four years later. In 1930s, the Arapgir refugees came to Armenia and founded the new Arabkir district in capital Yerevan. Davtyan, together with his mother and sister established themselves in Yerevan in 1932, with his father joining them later.

He graduated from the Yerevan State University in 1948. Davtyan became a member of the Armenian National Academy in 1986. He also worked as an editor for a series of local newspapers. From 1990 to 1994, he served as the Chairman of the Writers' Union of Armenia.

Davtya’s works were published since 1935. The main subjects of his poems were the homeland, a human being, his work and emotions.

His poem collections “First Love” (1947) and “The Morning of the World” (1950) express the patriotism of the participants of the Great Patriotic War. Another poem titled “A Road through the Heart” pays tribute to Soviet Armenian hero Hunan Avetisyan. 

“Dawn in the Mountains” "(1957), “Summer Thunder” (1964), “Wine Song” (1966) and other poems of the author go deep into the moral values of the time.

He translated the works of such famous Russian writers as Alexander Pushkin, Sergei Yesenin, Sándor Petőfi, Alexander Blok and others.

Vahagn Davtyan passed away in 1996 and was buried at Yerevan’s Komitas Pantheon.