The French writer Arthur Adamov (Harutiun Adamyan, 1908–1970) was one of the founders of the Theatre of the Absurd, a major representative of postwar French theatre, an innovative playwright who created a new theatrical language. He was born in Kislovodsk (Russia) and lived in Europe from childhood, but despite this, Adamov was connected with the Armenian environment. As an ethnic Armenian, he was baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church, his mother tongue was Armenian, his grandmother, Yekaterina Bahatur, was the first Armenian female playwright. In France, Adamov came into contact with the Armenians, showed his early literary attempts to the famous Armenian poet Avetik Isahakyan, and maintained contact with representatives of the Armenian intellectuals (Anna Budaghyan, Ruben Zaryan, Serovbe Mkhitaryan, Nubar Tildyan). The writer had a keen interest in events and realities of Armenian life.

KeywordsArthur Adamov French literature and theatre Yekaterina Bahatur Russian-Armenian emigrants in France Anna Budaghyan Ruben Zaryan