YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Renowned French philologist, historian, expert on Armenian studies Jean-Pierre Mahe says there are similarities between Armenian and French languages, which allows to make translations easier.

The French historian has dedicated 6 years for translating the “Book of Lamentations” aka "Book of Prayers" by Gregory of Narek (Grigor Narekatsi) to French.

“The first time when I was in Armenia was 40 years ago. Afterwards I started researching Narekatsi. At that time a French translation was already available, I got to know him a little bit, but as much as it was correct, it didn’t have the spirit of Narek. Poet Ruben Melik wanted me to start a translation. To be honest, I began with skepticism, thinking there is no need to translate after the available translation. And though I was charmed by Narek’s creativity, I didn’t understand the true meaning. This lasted until the day when I read Hrachya Tamrazyan’s first articles. I instantly noticed Narek and not a fireball fallen from the sky, but rather a historic individual born in Medieval Armenia and brought up in the Narekavank”, he told reporters.