PASADENA, Calif. — On Saturday, May 31, the Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter participated in Armenian Cultural Day at the Pasadena Public Library – Lamanda Park Branch. The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society, Nor Serount Cultural Association and Tekeyan Cultural Association united to present an afternoon of traditional Armenian song, dance, music and poetry. The goal of the Lamanda Park Library’s staff was to showcase the ancient and rich Armenian culture to a non-Armenian audience.
The Tekeyan Cultural Association presented a variety of Armenian poetry translated from Armenian to English for the edification of non-Armenians. In her remarks, TCA Metro Los Angeles Chapter Vice-Chairwoman Sevan Deirbadrossian noted that, spanning centuries, the Armenian people have demonstrated a great love for poetry. Deirbadrossian welcomed Aleen Yadegarian of the same chapter and a senior at Clark Magnet High School in Glendale to the podium to recite “Ascent,” which was written by Vahan Tekeyan in 1920. Yadegarian continued with a recitation of Tekeyan’s “Judgement.” Deirbadrossian shared the following astute observations about the “Prince of Armenian Poetry:” “Vahan Tekeyan’s poems and sonnets often examine the questions of evil, the consequences of the Armenian Genocide, the diaspora, love for one’s homeland and love for humanity.”
Tekeyan chapter board member Mihran Toumajan recited “Woman Cleaning Lentils” by Zareh Yaldizciyan, who used the pen name Zahrad. Deirbadrossian remarked: “Some of the themes of Zahrad’s poetry are the embattled common-man, the weight of being an Armenian in Istanbul and his ironic look at the absurdity of human existence.”
To conclude the poetry portion, Toumajan recited “Deprivation” by Missak Manouchian, a genocide survivor, poet and hero of the French Resistance against Nazism. Manouchian was executed by a Nazi firing squad in 1944 at age 34. In 2024, Manouchian and his wife, Mélinée, were laid to rest in Paris’ Panthéon mausoleum alongside other French national heroes.
On behalf of the Tekeyan Cultural Association, Deirbadrossian presented the books Death Marches Past the Front Door: Clara and Fritz Sigrist-Hilty, Swiss Eyewitnesses to the Armenian Dante-Inferno in Turkey (1915-1918), A Legacy of Armenian Treasures: Testimony to a People and Vahan Tekeyan: Selected Poems to Christine K. Reeder, Senior Librarian. Reeder expressed her appreciation and noted the three books will be catalogued and available at the Pasadena Public Library – Lamanda Park Branch very shortly.
