{{Short description|Armenian writer and playwright}} {{Infobox writer | name = Gabriel Sundukian<br>Գաբրիել Սունդուկյան | image = Gabriel Sundukyan.jpg | caption = Portrait on a 1950 Soviet postage stamp. | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1825|07|11}} | birth_place = Tiflis, Georgian Governorate, Russian Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1912|03|29|1825|07|11}} | death_place = Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire | education = Nersisyan School, Saint Petersburg State University | notableworks = ''Pepo'' }}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
'''Gabriel Sundukian''' ({{langx|hy|Գաբրիել Սունդուկյան}} <small>(reformed),</small> {{lang|hy|Գաբրիէլ Սունդուկեան}} <small>(classical)</small>; 11 July 1825 – 29 March 1912) was an Armenian writer and playwright, the founder of modern Armenian drama.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=19th Century Playwrights – Gabriel Sundukian |url=https://www.armeniandrama.org/people.php?p=gabriel-sundukian&a=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622213123/https://www.armeniandrama.org/people.php?p=gabriel-sundukian&a=1 |archive-date=22 June 2006 |website=ArmenianDrama.org |publisher=Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance}}</ref><ref>[http://feb-web.ru/feb/litenc/encyclop/leb/leb-1141.htm СУНДУКЯН Габриэл] in ''Encyclopedia of Literature''. Vol. 11. Moscow. 1929–1939.</ref>
==Biography== Born in Tiflis, in a wealthy Armenian family, Sundukian learned both classical and modern Armenian, French, Italian and Russian, studied at the University of Saint-Petersburg, where he wrote a dissertation on the principles of Persian versification. Then he returned to Tiflis and entered the civil service. In 1854–58 he was banished to Derbend (Dagestan, Russia). Subsequently, he returned to Tiflis and stayed there until his death.
In 1863, the Armenian theatre company of Tiflis staged his first play, ''Sneezing at Night's Good Luck''. His well-known play ''Pepo'' (1871) was made into the first Armenian talkie in 1935. Another famous film based on his work is ''Khatabala'' (1971). The Sundukian State Academic Theatre in Yerevan is named in his honor.
The Armenian church in Derbent was built in 1870 or 1871 using the project drawn by Sundukian in the 1850s. The church is currently a listed building.<ref>{{cite web |title=Армянская церковь |url=https://derbentmuseum.ru/monuments/armyanskaya-czerkov/ |publisher=Derbent Museum Reserve |language=ru}}</ref>
==Plays== thumb|upright=1.1|Sundukian on a 1975 Soviet stampthumb|Sundukian Academic State TheatreOrdered by date of composition (in some cases, several versions exist because of the author's revisions over the years). *(1866) ''Gishervan sabre kher e'' ({{Lang|hy|Գիշերուան սաբրը խէր է}} (A sneeze at night is good luck))<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Hacikyan |first1=Agop Jack |author-link1=Agop Jack Hacikyan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmtPLvnrc38C |title=The Heritage of Armenian Literature, Volume III: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times |last2=Basmajian |first2=Gabriel |last3=Franchuk |first3=Edward S. |last4=Ouzounian |first4=Nourhan |date=2005 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=0-8143-3221-8 |location=Detroit |pages=269-270}}</ref> *(1866) ''Khatabala'' ({{Lang|hy|Խաթաբալա}} (Quandary)).<ref name=":0" /> Published in 1881, 1904.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Bardakjian |first=Kevork B. |title=A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature 1500-1920 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-8143-2747-8 |location=Detroit |pages=518}}</ref> *(1866) ''Oskan Petroviche en kinkume'' ({{Lang|hy|Օսկան Պետրովիչը էն կինքումը}} (Oskan Petrovich in the afterlife))<ref name=":0" /> *(1869) ''Yev ayln kam nor Dioginis'' ({{Lang|hy|Եւ այլն կամ նոր Դիոգինիս}} (Etcetera, or the new Diogenes))<ref name=":0" /> *(1871) ''Pepo'' ({{lang|hy|Պէպօ}});<ref name=":0" /> English translation: ''Bebo'' (1931, tr. E. Megerditchian)<ref name=":1" /> *(1873) ''Kandvats ojakh'' ({{lang|hy|Քանդուած օջախ}}); English translation: ''The Ruined Family'' (1904, tr. F. B. Collins)<ref name=":1" /> *(1884) ''Eli mek zoh'' ({{Lang|hy|Էլի մէկ զոհ}} (Another victim))<ref name=":0" /> *(1893) ''Amusinner'' ({{Lang|hy|Ամուսիններ}} (Spouses)).<ref name=":0" /> Republished in 1896, 1897, and 1905.<ref name=":1" /> *(1907) Baghnesi bokhcha ({{Lang|hy|Բաղնըսի բոխչայ}} (Bath bag))<ref name=":0" /> *(1910) ''Ser yev azatutyun'' ({{lang|hy|Սէր և ազատութիւն}} (Love and liberty))<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Gabriel Sundukyan}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=40305| name=Gabriel Sundukyan}} *[https://us.imdb.com/name/nm1597729/ Sundukian at IMDB]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundukian, Gabriel}} Category:1825 births Category:1912 deaths Category:Writers from Tbilisi Category:20th-century Armenian dramatists and playwrights Category:People from Georgia (country) of Armenian descent Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country) Category:Burials at Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi Category:Male dramatists and playwrights Category:Nersisian School alumni Category:19th-century Armenian dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country) Category:19th-century dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country) Category:19th-century Armenian male writers Category:20th-century Armenian male writers