Erukhan

Erukhan (Armenian: Երուխան) (1870-1915) was the pen name for Yervant Srmakeshkhanlian (Armenian: Երուանդ Սրմաքէշխանլեան), was an Armenian writer of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was arrested, tortured, and killed by the Turkish authorities during the Armenian Genocide.

Life

Erukhan was born in 1870 in the city of Constantinople. He received his childhood education from the Nersesian institution, an old and shabby building serving as a school. Erukhan based one of his humorous characters in the novel “The Lord’s Daughter” (Armenian: Ամիրային Աղջիկը) on the school’s principal: Constantine Abantarian. As a student, Erukhan was said to be a lazy and weak student. He had a particular distaste for mathematics, saying that the first individuals that he detested in his life were his mathematics teachers.

In 1886, his father pushed him to pursue a career in medicine but a family friend persuaded him to enroll his son in the newly opened Central College (Armenian: Կեդրոնական Վարժարան). Erukhan enrolled in the school, but he was unable to be a first-rate student. Ironically, he was even mediocre in Armenian literature. He fell ill during the end of year exam session and was unable to write his exams. His appeal for make up examinations was refused and he dropped out of the institution.