Background
Zeytuntsyan was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1938.
journalist playwright translator
Zeytuntsyan was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1938.
Zeytuntsyan attended the Aghayan School in Yerevan and it was during this period that he published his first short story “Nvere” (1953).
In the aftermath of World World War II, his family moved to Soviet Armenia during a period of intense economic hardship. Several years later, he published his first collection, Nra arajin enkere. Since their publication, many of these works have been translated into Russian, Czechoslovakian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and the languages of the Baltic Republics.
A recurrent theme in Zeytuntsyan’s works has been the relationship between the individual, society, and the exercise of authority.
The majority of his plays draw their subject matter from Armenian history, particularly historical episodes that are relevant to contemporary issues. His novel the Last Dawn as well as his plays The Great Silence and All Rise, the Court Is in Session explore these themes.
These plays have often been performed in both Armenia and different areas of the Armenian Diaspora.
One major theme in his more recent prose and theatrical works is the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, reflecting the growth of nationalism in the Armenian Republic towards the end of Soviet rule.