On November 23, 2023, there was not a single empty seat in the Tamanyan Small Exhibition Hall of the National Library of Armenia. A literary matinee was held in front of a large audience. It was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the outstanding literary critic, Doctor of Philology, Professor, and Academician Edward Jrbashyan.   

 

Literary scholar, Doctor of Philology, Professor Samvel Muradyan spoke about the life and work of academician Edward Jrbashyan, shared his memories of his joint work with him at the Yerevan State University Center for Armenian Studies, their mutual preparation of publications for the Yerevan University and later during his teaching. Samvel Muradyan spoke about how the editor’s work took place under Soviet censorship, and about the often-intractable situations associated with the publication of works by Hovhannes Tumanyan, Yeghishe Charents, Avetik Isahakyan and others.  

 

Abgar Apinyan, literary critic, and president of the All-Armenian Union of Writers, presented the family album of the great Jrbashyan family, discovered in the city of Van, and spoke about the scientific contribution of the Jrbashyans to many areas of the national economy of Armenia. Apinyan delivered his speech as a true literary critic, accompanying it with photographs of representatives of different generations of Jrbashyans. 

 

At the end of the literary matinee, the daughter of the famous literary critic Ashkhen Jrbashyan thanked the staff of the National Library of Armenia, emphasizing that she discovered a lot for herself for the first time by studying the exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Edward Jrbashyan.