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Today, January 24, marks the 100th birth anniversary of prominent Armenian poet Paruyr Sevak.

Sevak was born Paruyr Ghazaryan in the village of Chanakhchi (now Zangakatun), Soviet Armenia, to Rafael Soghomonyan and Anahit Soghomonyan on 24 January 1924. Young Paruyr attended the village school.

Later in 1940 he moved to Yerevan to study at the philological faculty of Yerevan State University. He graduated in 1945. The same year he started his postgraduate studies of Armenian literature at the Academy of Sciences Abeghyan Institute of Literature. In 1951 Sevak went to Moscow to study at the Gorky Institute of World Literature. After graduation, he worked there as professor of translation in 1957-1959.

Paruyr Ghazaryan adopted the name Paruyr Sevak as his pen name after Western Armenian poet Ruben Sevak.

In 1960 Sevak returned to Yerevan and resumed his prolific and meaningful literary, scientific and public career. He started to work at the Abeghyan Institute of Literature as a scientific researcher. From 1966-1971 Sevak served as secretary on the Board of the Writers Union of Armenia.

In 1967 Sevak became a doctor of philology after his dissertation defense. In 1968 he was elected to the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR.

Sevak died on June 17, 1971, in a car crash while on a drive back to Yerevan. In previous years, he had voiced his criticism of the corruption of the Soviet establishment and for this, many Armenians believe, he was murdered by the Soviet government. His wife, Nelly Menagharishvili, also died in the car crash. He was buried in the backyard of his home in Zangakatun, which later became a museum open to everyone.

Sevak's notable works include "Immortals Command", "Uncompromising Intimacy", "Love's Road", "Let There Be Light" and "Your Acquaintances".