13 Facts About Aram Haigaz

Aram Haigaz was the pen name of Aram Chekenian, an Armenian-American writer.

Aram Haigaz was born in the town of Sebinkarahisar in the Ottoman Empire and survived the Armenian genocide in 1915.

Aram Haigaz was a young boy when his birthplace was attacked, and his first book, The Fall of the Aerie, published in English translation in 1935, is often cited by scholars and historians for its eyewitness details.

Aram Haigaz wrote ten books in his lifetime, as well as articles and essays for Armenian newspapers and magazines.

Aram Haigaz survived by converting to Islam, which allowed him to live as a Muslim, with a Turkish master, until he escaped to freedom.

Aram Haigaz worked as an apprentice photo-engraver at The Daily Mirror, a New York City newspaper, and studied English at night, reading extensively the great world and American classics, from Kipling and Balzac to Poe.

When he died at age 85, Aram Haigaz had published ten books that were read by Armenians in many countries.

Aram Haigaz's stories did not dwell on the pain of the past, and he became one of the most popular Armenian writers of his time.

Aram Haigaz received several Armenian literary awards and tributes and in 1972, the Jubilee of his fifty years as a writer was marked with programs in cities in the United States, Canada and Lebanon.

Aram Haigaz was married in Paris to a young Armenian woman whom he had met in school in Istanbul.

Aram Haigaz lived in Rego Park, New York, and had two children, a son and daughter.

Aram Haigaz died in New York, from complications of pneumonia, at age 85.

Except for his first book, all the works of Aram Haigaz were written and published in Armenian.