"Hrand Nazariantz: The Cosmopolitan Poet Who Chose Bari and Puglia" by Carlo Coppola
 |
Panos Terlemezian ritratto di Hrand Nazariantz, oggi perduto |
Today, 8 January, we commemorate the birth of Hrand Nazariantz, one of the most fascinating and multifaceted figures of twentieth-century literature—an Armenian poet who chose Puglia, and Bari in particular, as his homeland of the heart.
A veil of mystery surrounds his birth, deliberately nurtured by the poet himself. Was he born in 1877, 1880, or 1886? Depending on circumstance or interlocutor, Nazariantz enjoyed reshaping his own age, leaving posterity an identity as fluid and elusive as his poetry. What is certain is that he was born on this day in Üsküdar, a historic district of Constantinople overlooking the Bosphorus.
From Constantinople to Europe: A Symbolist Formation
Before reaching the Adriatic shores, Nazariantz lived a life of restless movement. From Constantinople he embarked on a journey through cultivated Europe, shaping both his intellect and his literary vision.
After his early education at the Berberian College in his native city, family circumstances led him to complete secondary studies in England, followed by university education at the Sorbonne in Paris. He later spent extended periods in Switzerland, a crossroads of political exiles and wandering intellectuals. These experiences proved decisive in forging his symbolist aesthetics and experimental literary voice.
A brief return to his homeland ended abruptly: ideological hostility within the local Armenian community forced him into permanent exile in 1913—a tragic yet providential turn that ultimately spared his life from the impending Armenian Genocide. That same year, Nazariantz arrived in Bari with his first wife, Maddalena de Cosmis, initiating a bond with the Terra di Bari that would endure until his death.
An Intellectual, an Activist, a European Voice
Nazariantz was far more than a salon intellectual. A tireless cultural mediator and activist, he maintained close ties with the European literary elite and the Armenian diaspora. In 1953, he was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In Italy, he became a pioneer of radio broadcasting, collaborating with Radio Bari and later with the EIAR, contributing to the spread of international culture and ideas during a crucial phase of Italian modernity.
Nor Arax: Poetry Turned into Humanitarian Action
Nazariantz’s greatest human achievement, however, was not literary but profoundly ethical: the founding of Nor Arax, an Armenian village on the outskirts of Bari. Conceived as a concrete refuge for survivors of the 1915 Genocide, Nor Arax embodied the poet’s determination to transform pain into protection and solidarity.
He could not accomplish this alone. While he received sincere support from many—intellectuals and prominent citizens of Bari—others attempted to exploit both his generous spirit and the vulnerable Armenian refugees he had helped bring to Italy. Despite these obstacles, Nor Arax remains a powerful symbol of diaspora resilience and moral responsibility.
The Final Years: Surveillance, Poverty, and Dignity
After decades in Bari, and under continuous surveillance by state security services, Nazariantz’s later years were marked by solitude and hardship. Following the death of Vittoria Strazzaboschi, his devoted companion with whom he had lived for many years, he found temporary shelter in Conversano, first in the geriatric ward of the Civil Hospital, then under the care of young members of the Università Popolare, who regarded him as a master of free thought and intellectual independence.
The final chapter of his life unfolded in Casamassima, where he lived for about a year and a half in severe financial difficulty, assisted by Maria Lucarelli, an “infermiera per amor dell’arte” (“a nurse by love of the art”), as Carmelo Bene might have described her—later his morganatic wife.
Hrand Nazariantz died on 25 January 1962, at the Policlinico Hospital in Bari.
A Poet Who Built a Homeland
Today we remember Nazariantz not only as the great lyric voice of Crucified Dreams, The Great Song of the Cosmic Tragedy, or Vahakn and the Mirror, but as a man who—having lost his homeland—created a new one for himself and for his people in the heart of Puglia.
His life stands as a rare example of how poetry, exile, and ethical action can converge into a single, enduring legacy.
