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 WILLIAM SAROYAN, an Armenian writer, was born on August 31 in 1908 in Fresno (USA). He wrote in English. Saroyan was born in the family of Armenian immigrants from Bitlis. Self-education, reading of American and world literature, elements of Armenian spiritual culture, traditions and history, the originality of national surrounding played a great role in his life. His first works were first published in 1933 in English weekly “Hayrenik” of Boston under the name Sirak Goryan. Saroyan became famous by the collection “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and Other Stories” (1934) which became a significant phenomenon in the American Literature. 

Saroyan precisely depicted the everyday life of common people with great aesthetic expressiveness and generalizations. His many literary characters are Armenians that present the Armenian environment with its national traditions and customs and with the memory of “ancient motherland”. These motives as well as the original characters that preserved their old traditions were opposed to the leveling standards of American lifestyle.  Saroyan also depicted the “strange” and failure characters, especially of children and teenagers. They have entered the world literature as symbols of purity of the soul, as the expression of the writer's humanitarian worldview. 

The contrast of reality and dream, the motives of the inner freedom of the individual and spiritual beauty, love and kindness are embodied in the novels, short stories of Saroyan. They had also an interesting aesthetic solution in his dramas (“My Heart's in the Highlands”, staged in 1939, Arm. staged in 1961, film 1976), “The Time of Your Life” staged in 1939, award of critics of New York, The Pulitzer Prize, Arm. staged in 1981), “The Cave Dwellers” (staged in 1957), “Hello out there ” (staged in 1942, Arm. TV film in 1981), “The Slaughter of the Innocents” (1952, Arm. staging 1986), Big Valley Vineyard (Arm. staging 1971).

In 1942 Saroyan served in Army, participated in the World War II (1939- 1945): he wrote many military scenarios at that time. He viewed the war as a disaster and reflected on this theme in “The Human Comedy” (1942, Armenian publication in 1959) and in the novel “The Adventures of Wesley Jackson” (1946, Armenian publication in 1965). In 1950-60 Saroyan lived in Europe and then again moved to USA. Based on the autobiographical material he created a series of psychological novels “ The Laughing Matter” 1953, “Papa You're Crazy” 1956, “Mama I Love You”  1957, “Boys and Girls Together” 1963, “One Day in the Afternoon of the World” 1964, etc. 

From 1960 Saroyan wrote lyrical-autobiographical memoir genre works (“Here Comes There Goes You Know Who”, 1961), “Not dying” 1963, “Letter from 74 rue Taitbout” 1969, “Places Where I've Done Time” 1972, “Chance Meetings” 1977). The parts dedicated B. Shaw, Ch. Chaplin, P. Picasso, T. Eliot, J. Steinbeck, Y. Charents, the author's thoughts on literature, on art and its role, principles and issues are remarkable. 

W. Saroyan died on May 16, 1981 in Fresno. A part of his body, according to his will is buried in Komitas Pantheon of Yerevan. 

A school in Yerevan was named after William Saroyan. 

Source - "Who is Who. The Armenians" Encyclopedia, Volume I, chief-editor Hovh. Ayvazyan, Yerevan, 2007.