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Ararat Mkrtumyan (May 1, 1957 – December 7, 1988, Արարատ Մկրտումյան) was an Armenian poet, literary and public figure. He wrote poems, quatrains, ballads, critical and journalistic articles.

Biography
Ararat Mkrtumyan was born on May 1, 1957, in Alaverdi town, Lori province.

In 1974 he graduated from a secondary school named after Spandaryan․ He started working as a workman at the Alaverdi Mining and Metallurgical Combine, which was the oldest manufacturing enterprise of Armenia. In 1975-1977 he served in the army.

In 1977-1982 Ararat Mkrtumyan studied at the Faculty of Armenian Philology of Yerevan State University, where he continued postgraduate studies as well.

Since 1984 he worked in Gyumri as a secretary of book lovers company. At the same time, Ararat Mkrtumyan directed "Shamandag" literary group. He published poems, articles and essays in "Garun", "Avangard", "Banvor" and "Lori" journals.

He died on December 7, 1988 in Gyumri (Leninakan) during the 1988 Armenian earthquake.

Work
Ararat Mkrtumyan was a realist writer, who mostly wrote classic poems.

In 1993 Mkrtumyan published his "Aggravating blood" collection of poems. Then, in 2007 "One Homeland Added" collection got published.

He was close to the poets Hovhannes Grigoryan and Hakob Movses.

Literary Award
After the death of Ararat Mkrtumyan, his brother Arthur Mkrtumyan promotes young poets, organizes prizes and events.

Since June 2017, the Shirak regional branch of the Writers Union of Armenia has announced the annual literary and youth competition "Ararat Mkrtumyan", in which poets (up to 31 years old) living and creating in the Shirak region can participate (Ararat Mkrtumyan lived for 31 years). The award was established on the initiative of Artur Mkrtumyan for the benefit of the development of Armenian literature. In 2018, an amnesty was also organized in Lori, where the first place took a poetess Loretta Muradian for the collection "Tacnographs".