Aslanyan, Louise

The early years

Louise Srapionovna Aslanyan (Grigoryan) was born on May 5, 1902 (as follows from the French archives), or 1904 (German archives), or in 1906 (as stated in most articles about Louise) in Tabriz ( Iran ) in the family of Srapion Grigoryan and his wife Maria (Shahbazyan). Louise graduated from elementary school in Tabriz , then continued her studies at the Tiflis Russian gymnasium ^[1] . Already at school, she was distinguished by her literary gift, wrote lyric poems, translated from Russian and French. From a young age she was playing the piano.

Returning to Tabriz , in 1923 she married Arpiar Aslanyan , a lawyer by profession.

Life in France

In 1923, the young couple moved to Paris ; Maria, the mother of Louise, and Arshaluys, the sister, also moved with them. In Paris, Louise wanted to continue her musical education (playing the piano), but because of a lack of money she had to give up her dream. As a result, Louise entered the Sorbonne at the Faculty of Literature. In Paris, she took an active part in the work of the Armenian-French writing community, worked in newspapers, acquired acquaintances in literary circles, and took the pseudonym “Las” ^[2] .

In the mid-twenties she published the stories “Coin Collection”, “The Iron Seller of Wine”, “Swamp” and others ^[1] in the French-Armenian press. Las wrote her works in Armenian and French.

In 1928 she released a collection of short stories "Khan" ("Khan").

In 1935, her short story collection Gtsits durs (Beyond the Line) ^{[3] was} published in two volumes.

In 1936, Las joined the French Communist Party ^[1] and began cooperating with the Armenian newspaper Manushyan “Zangou” (“Zangu” ). She also worked in the New Life newspaper. In the same year she wrote the novel “Kaskatsneri ughiner” (“Ways of doubt”) ^[4] , consisting of two parts-books (published in Yerevan in 1959).

In 1937, Las became chairman of the Assistance Committee of Armenia (HOC), as well as chairman of the Union of Armenian Women of Paris . Louise Aslanyan was a member of the Union of Armenian Writers of France ^[2] .

Resistance Movement

In 1940 entered the French Resistance . According to the memoirs of Henry Karayan (a member of the “ Manushyan Group”), she was a rector in the Association of Free Riflemen and French Partisans ( Francs-Tireurs et Partisans ) - a combat unit of the Communist Party of France , formed in late 1941. Spouses Aslanyany also worked in an underground publishing house and were engaged in the supply of weapons to the resistance fighters ^[5] . Las opened the female Resistance cell and was responsible for the Armenian Resistance in the northern part of France . Louise had connections with activists of the Resistance Movement : Misak Manushyan , Arpen Tavityan, Hayk Dpiryan, Shag Taturyan and others. In the Resistance Movement, Louise was called Madeleine ^[2] . Also during the Resistance, a pair of Aslanyans taught mathematics and chess to the young Charles Aznavour . ^[6]

Arrest, camp, death

On July 26, 1944, the Aslanian spouses were arrested by the German denunciation command. Arpiar was arrested in a store, Louise - at their place of residence (8 rue d'Elix No. 10, Paris). The arrest of Louise took place with witnesses: relatives and neighbors. Las diaries and manuscripts were captured by the Nazis, in particular, manuscripts of the following works were captured: “Histoire de la Resistance” (“History of the Resistance”) and “La Chute de Paris” (“The Fall of Paris”) ^[7] . The married couple was first brought to Fresnes Prison .

On August 15, 1944, they were taken from Toulouse to Buchenwald . Arpiar was sent from Buchenwald to the Dora-Mittelbau camp , and Louise to Ravensbrück ^[8] , where he ends up on September 1, 1944. She was assigned camp number 57440. On September 4, 1944, Louise was transferred to work at the HASAG factory camp in the vicinity of Leipzig , which is the Buchenwald satellite camp . Here she was numbered 4460. Las was held in this camp with Lisa London (Ricolla). There is archival information about the location of Las also in the Stalag IV-E camp ^[9] .

In conclusion, Louise wrote the poem “Gortsaranum” (“At the factory”) and the unfinished poem “Mala” (an abbreviation of her dear names: “M” - mother Mary; “A” - sister Arshaluys; “L” - herself, Louise; “ A ”- Arpiar) ^[10] . The poems were preserved thanks to her friend, who later became a journalist, Lisa London (Ricolla) .

On January 27, 1945, Louise was taken back to Ravensbrück , where on January 30 she died under unknown circumstances. On February 15, 1945, her husband, Arpiar, died in the Dora-Mittelbau camp ^[11] .

In her works, Las talked about the life of the Armenian communities that lost themselves, their disunity, backward mores, blindly following alien cultures. She saw a revival of national integrity in a return to originality, the search for her own path of development, repatriation and a strong connection with Armenia . As a member of the French Communist Party , propagandized the achievements of the Soviet Union . Her last poems were devoted to the struggle against fascism and the imminent victory over it ^{[1] [2]} .

Novels

• 1936 - The Ways of Doubt ^[4]

Stories

• 1920s - Coin Collection
• 1920s - The Iron Wine Vendor
• 1920s - “Swamp”

Collections

• 1928 - The Khan
• 1935 - Beyond the Line ^[3]

Poems

• 1944 - “At the factory”
• 1944 - "Mala"

Historical works

• 1940s - “History of the Resistance”. The manuscript was destroyed by the Gestapo in 1944-1945.
• 1940s - The Fall of Paris. The manuscript was destroyed by the Gestapo in 1944-1945.

Describing her commitment to the fight against fascism , sniper Henry Karayan recalled that when he saw him in the ranks of the Resistance, Las said that she was waiting for this action ^[5] .

The head of the department of new and recent history of the Museum of the History of Armenia in her article “Fragments of the participation of European Armenians in the Second World War” speaks of Louise Aslanyan as follows:

“With big, wagged eyes, the small, graceful Louise, seemed to be created only for affection and love, songs and music, threw herself into a dangerous abyss of political struggle. She was not only a soldier of the Resistance, a communist, but also a writer, not only earned the name of the heroine, but also left a legacy of literary works that were read with pleasure and are read by future generations ” ^[2]

The manuscripts of the last years of her life, as well as diaries, correspondence, were destroyed by the Nazis. Her stories and novels, released earlier, have survived to the present day. Fragments of her letters have been preserved. A collection of oriental medieval miniatures with Sufi themes belonging to Louise was transferred to the Matenadaran Arabographic Foundation ^[12] .

• Resistance Movement (France)
• Manushyan, Misak
• Armenians in France

• Armenians in the French Resistance (French)
• Archives of Nazi Laregas Arolsen
• Who is who? Armenians Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume One, Yerevan, 2005 (in Armenian)
• The contribution of Armenian women in the Second World War (in Armenian)
• Minasyan E. G. “Armenian women-heroines”, YSU Publishing House, Yerevan, 2016, p . 420-421 (in Armenian)
• Hovakimyan B. M. “Dictionary of Armenian Aliases”, YSU Publishing House, Yerevan, 2005, p . 185 (in Armenian)
• Fragment of a letter by Louise Aslanyan (dated May 22, 1936) in the Repository of Cultural Property of Armenia (in Armenian)
• Electronic library of the Ministry of Diaspora, “Khan” stories (in Armenian)
• Electronic library of the Ministry of Diaspora, the story “Swamp” (in Armenian)
• Personal archival funds in the state depositories of the USSR
• The most famous Armenians are military figures