David of Sassoon

David of Sassoon Statue
Courthouse Park


David of Sassoun is the main hero of Armenia's national epic Daredevils of Sassoun, who drove Arab invaders out of Armenia.

The Daredevils of Sassoun (also known as after its main hero David of Sassoun) is an Armenian national epic poem recounting David's exploits. As an oral history, it dates from the 8th century, and was first put in written form in 1873 by Garegin Srvandzediants.[citation needed]

David of Sassoun is the name of only one of the four acts, but due to the popularity of the character, the entire epic is known to the public as David of Sasun. The epic's full name is Sasna Tsrer (The Daredevils of Sasun).

Modern Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanyan later penned a poem of the same name retelling the story of the David of Sasun in a more modern language.  From Wikipedia

From GreenGoPost

Take a look at the friezes on the side of the statue-they help to tell the story.

friezes on the stature

friezes on the stature

friezes on the stature

An English translation of David of Sassoon by Hovhannes Toumanian can be found online.   The translation is Thomas Samuelian

(1917-1995) is located on the Tulare side of Courthouse Park
The two-and-a-half ton copper statue representing justice and freedom depicts Armenian folk hero, David, astride his rearing horse, Jalai. Symbols of Armenian cultural history are carved in the base.  Legend says that David of Sassoon drove invaders away from Armenia around the 7th century.
Varaz Samuelian was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1917 and came to the United States in 1946 after World War II.  He and his wife, Ann, moved to Fresno in 1957 where he developed many large sculptures.  David of Sassoon was installed in Courthouse Park at the southeast corner of the Hall of Records in 1971.  From the Downtown Fresno site

Varaz Samuelian also has a Wikipedia entry. Varaz Samuelian estimated that during his career he created a thousand works of art, including a monumental statue of the Armenian folkloric legend David of Sassoun in front of the Fresno County Courthouse. He is also noted for his bronze bust of William Saroyan at the entrance of the Fresno Convention Center. Varaz Samuelian was a writer of several books, including one on his relationship with William Saroyan entitled Willie and Me.[6] He died on November 7, 1995 at the age of 78. In 1965 William Saroyan wrote a short novel dedicated to Varaz Samuelian entitled Who is Varaz?[7]


Varaz Samuelian web site