Central Bank of Armenia puts into circulation “100th Anniversary of Sergey Parajanov’s Birth” and “100th Anniversary of Paruyr Sevak’s Birth” gold collector coins. 

YEREVAN, March 25. /ARKA/. On March 25, 2024, the Central Bank of Armenia puts into circulation “100th Anniversary of Sergey Parajanov’s Birth” and “100th Anniversary of Paruyr Sevak’s Birth” gold collector coins. 

Collector coin dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov’s birth

Sergey Parajanov (Sarkis Parajaniants, 1924-1990), a renowned Armenian film director, screenwriter, master of collage, and People’s Artist of the Armenian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics (1990).

Parajanov was born in Tiflis (Tbilisi) and received his secondary education there. In 1945, he was admitted to the directing department of the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. Beginning in 1952, he worked at the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev, where he filmed “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” (1964), which brought him international recognition.

In 1969, at the Hayfilm studio, Parajanov directed “The Color of Pomegranates” (“Sayat-Nova”), which is considered a masterpiece of cinema. In the film, he implements his own innovative ideas, disclosing the unseen and the spiritual through objects, symbols, and rituals of his own creation. The authorities of the time disapproved of this and others of Parajanov’s films, forbade him from filming, and imprisoned him. However, Parajanov did not stop working and instead directed his creative energy toward making drawings, collages, dolls, hats, and other works of art.

Upon having the opportunity to make films again, Parajanov direct​ed the internationally recognized “The Legend of Suram Fortress” (1984), and, in 1987, was invited abroad for the first time to participate in the Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, where the film won first place in the “Most Innovative Film” category.

To this day, Parajanov’s art continues to inspire many artists and filmmakers around the world.

More than a thousand of the artist’s works are held at the Sergey Parajanov Museum, which has been operating in Yerevan since 1991.

Obverse: scene from Sergey Parajanov’s “The Color of Pomegranates”, the monument to Parajanov at the Komitas pantheon, Yerevan (sculptor: A. Shiraz, 1999).

Reverse: portrait of Sergey Parajanov, excerpts from his collages titled “Variation with Shell on the Theme of Pinturicchio and Rafael”, 2nd version, dedicated to V. A. Katanyan (1989), “Weeping Gioconda (1977) and “Portrait of Daniel Olbrychski” (1980).

Designers: Haroutiun Samuelian (obverse), Anna Kurghinyan (reverse).

The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.

Technical specification​

Collector coin dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Paruyr Sevak’s birth

Paruyr Sevak (Ghazaryan, 1924-1971), prominent Armenian poet, literary critic, translator, and public figure.

Sevak graduated from the YSU Faculty of Philology in 1945, then earned a master’s degree from the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences M. Abeghyan Institute of Literature (1948), where he worked as a researcher from 1963 to 1971. From 1951 to 1956, he studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow, where he lectured in the Literary Translation department from 1957 through 1959. 

From 1966 to 1971, he served as Secretary of the Board of the Writers’ Union of Armenia.

In 1969, the writer was awarded a Doctor of Philology degree for his “Sayat-Nova” monograph. 

Sevak’s poems have been published since 1942. “Immortals Command” (1948) is the writer’s inaugural booklet. Among his later works, the “With You Again” (1957) collection stands out, demonstrating the poet’s new creative heights.

The lyrical and philosophical poem “The Unsilenceable Belfry” (awarded the Armenian SSR State Prize in 1967) depicts the fate of Komitas, together with the fate of the Armenian people.

Sevak’s “Man in a Palm” (1963) and “Let There Be Light” (1971) collections encompass philosophical works revealing the nature of modern man and highlighting human experiences.

Sevak has translated the works of Adam Mickiewicz, Alexander Pushkin, Hristo Botev, Mikhail Lermontov, Yanka Kupala, Rainis, Valery Bryusov, Irakli Abashidze, Eduardas Miezelaitis, and others.

Sevak’s poems have been translated into numerous languages.

Streets and schools throughout Armenia have been named after Sevak, as have a neighborhood and a street in Yerevan and a village in Ararat marz. The Paruyr Sevak House-Museum has been operating in the poet’s birthplace of Zangakatun village since 1981.

Obverse: image of church belfry, book cover of “Man in a Palm” (illustrator: Kh. Gyulamiryan, 1963).  

Reverse: portrait of Paruyr Sevak, his signature, quill pen with Sevak’s “Armenia” (1950) poem in background.

Designer: Eduard Kurghinyan.  The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.

Technical specification​