Levon Shahoian

Born in 1907, in the Haftvan village of Salmast, he received his elementary education at the local village school. In 1918, he entered the American Missionary School of Baqubah, Iraq, and soon began writing under the last name of Shahouni. In 1927, less than a decade later, his first work was published by Kochnak, a journal in Armenia. He wrote for various Armenian newspapers, journals and magazines such as “Veradznound” (Renaissanc e), “Alik”, “Ani”, “Arousiak”, “Paykar” (Struggle), “Nairi”, utilizing two pen names: Ashough Sahag and Biutamin. In 1928, Shahouni’s works appeared in a series of booklets entitled “Bouquet of Poems” in Baghdad, and in 1931, a second poetry collection entitled “Shogher” was published in Tabriz, Iran.