Artine Artinian

Artine Artinian (December 8, 1907 – November 19, 2005) was a French literature scholar of Armenian descent, notable for his manuscript collection, who was immortalized as a fictional character by Gore Vidal. Artine Artinian was born in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria to Armenian parents. In 1920, his family came to the United States, settling in Attleboro, Massachusetts. There, Artine worked as a shoeshine boy, learning English from listening to conversations as he worked. He later acquired such a valuable collection of French literary manuscripts that he was able to leave teaching in his 50s. He spent his retirement collecting manuscripts as well as portraits. He donated a large amount of his collection of manuscripts and art to Bowdoin College...