Shiraz was born Onik Tadevosi Karapetyan in the city of Alexandropol, then part of the Russian Empire (now Gyumri, Armenia).

[2] In 1937 Hovhannes Shiraz entered the Armenian Literature Department at Yerevan State University, where he studied until 1941.

[7] In 2014, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a 10000 dram silver commemorative coin dedicated to the centenary of Hovhannes Shiraz’s birthday.

In 1963 John Steinbeck visited the poet's apartment in Yerevan, and later wrote in a letter: "...men are closest together when they laugh together.

His rich vocabulary and sensitive style, enhanced by folk and colloquial elements,[13] made his poetry one of the highest achievements of Armenian literature.

According to Paruyr Sevak, "Modern Armenian poetry has risen on the ridge of Shiraz".

Shiraz built his poems with Armenian "tuff of emotions", added Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

"I've come to ask for a piece of bread as charity I'm a poor orphan woman with no one to support me."

At this point I opened my door immediately, Only to find a miracle; it was my deceased mother indeed!

As Andrey Dementyev writes, Hovhannes Shiraz, like Sergey Yesenin, uses many metaphors, so it's very hard to translate his poems.

Due to the 1988 Armenian earthquake, the museum's refurbishment was interrupted, and 8 homeless families found shelter in the house.