The spirit of Serbia


    On February 15, a literary-music event dedicated to the Day Republic of Serbia was organized in the hall of the City Central Library after AvetikIsahakyan, by the Consulate of the Republic of Serbia in Armenia. The event was conducted by the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia in Armenia, poet, translator, Honored Worker of Culture Babken Simonyan, whose Armenian-Serbian friendship bridge has a 45-year-long history. He has been the first Armenian-Serbian literary and cultural associate in Armenia since 1975. For the past 45 years he has done a great deal of work in developing and strengthening these ties. Since 2007Babken Simonyan has been the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia in the Republic of Armenia. Each year he traditionally initiates an event dedicated to the Day of the Republic of Serbia, thus creating a bridge between the two nations. This time, too, he organized a wonderful event, attended by renowned intellectuals, writers, artists, literary critics, musicians, historians, public figures. Ms. Tatyana Panajotovic, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in the Republic of Armenia, delivered an official speech. She spoke about the centuries-old friendship of the fortunate Armenian and Serbian peoples, the difficult path they have passed, and presented valuable excerpts from the history of the Serbian people. Corresponding member of the RA National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philology, Professor AelitaDolukhanyan made warm and direct speeches, touching upon the Armenian-Serbian literary ties, referring to two great Armenian poets: HovhannesTumanyan and AvetikIsahakyan mentioning that Tumanyanhas translated excerpts from the Serbian epic, and Isahakyan's wonderful poem "The People's Harvest" is a brilliant work that describes the tragedy of the Serbian people. Alina Pahlevanyan, Professor of the Yerevan Komitas Conservatory, Honored Art Worker of the Republic of Armenia, remarked on the similarity between the friendship of the Armenian and Serbian peoples and especially the musical heritage, finding many commonalities between Armenian and Serbian music. The participants also listened to PredragMijanoviող, a student of the Faculty of Theology at Yerevan State University. His spoke Armenian, managing to learn and improve his Armenian during his four years in Armenia. Historian Gevorg Yazichyan spoke with great pleasure about the immense work done by his long-time friend Babken Simonyan in the field of Armenian-Serbian relations. He performed the popular Serbian song "OjGolube" which translates to "Oh, my pigeon?" to everyone’s surprise. Gayane Samvelyan and Aida Asaturyan performed poems by BabkenSimonyan's Serbian series, as well as works by Serbian poets about Armenia. The ending, however, was BabkenSimonyan's brilliant Serbian translation of YeghisheCharents' poem "My Sweet Armenia."

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