PROF. RUBINA PEROOMIAN TO SPEAK ON ARMENIAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT
Dr. Rubina Peroomian

asbarez
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

LA CRESCENTA-Prof. Rubina Peroomian will be the honorary guest speaker
on “The Significance of Atrpatakan in the Armenian Liberation Movement
” at Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley, located at Western
Prelacy’s ” Dikran and Zarouhi Der Ghazarian ” Hall, at 6252 Honolulu
Ave., in La Crescenta, California on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 1 pm,
following the church service. Prior to the lecture program, there
will also be a Requiem Service in memory of Atrpatakan’s Armenian
intellectuals and public servants at 11 a.m. Participating in the
cultural program will be Mr. & Mrs. Bogos Oganisyan and Zhanna
Khachatryan. This memorable program is a joint undertaking of Urmia
Armenian Society with Educational Committee of Crescenta Valley
Armenian Apostolic Church.

Rubina Peroomian is a Research Associate at UCLA, where she earned
her PhD. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She has taught
Armenian Studies courses at UCLA, Glendale Community College,
and the University of Laverne. Her publications include: Literary
Responses to Catastrophe: A Comparison of the Armenian and the Jewish
Experience, and And those who Continued Living in Turkey after
1915, The Metamorphoses of the Post-Genocide Armenian Identity as
Reflected in Artistic Literature, as well as, Hayastane HHD-Bolshevik
Haraberutunneri Volortum, 1917-1921 (Translated and published in
Russian); a series of three secondary textbooks, Hay Tahd, for Diaspora
Armenian high schools, Haykakan Hartsi Patmutiun 9-10, for high schools
in Armenia. She has compiled and edited a teacher’s guide on how to
teach the Armenian Genocide to Armenian students in K-12 Armenian
schools. She has authored several research articles on the Armenian
Genocide and diasporan literature in English and Armenian in scholarly
journals and has contributed chapters in books. She has lectured
widely and made presentations in Armenian and international symposia.

In an e’poque of political reawakening, when Armenian secret cells were
mushrooming in the Ottoman and Russian empires, Atrpatakan Armenians
were still dormant, submerged in ignorance, living under the constant
threat of local Turks and Kurds. Atrpatakan, the Persian Azerbaijan,
was the unique socio-political milieu to give birth to Raffi the
revolutionary novelist and the harbinger of the Armenian liberation
movement. And very soon Raffi’s characters, Sarhat, Vardan, Aslan,
Karo, Farhat, Vorsord Avo, were reincarnated in an elite generation
with strong dedication to the Armenian cause, Nikoghaios Melik Tangian
was one of them. Atrpatakan in its proximity to Russian and Ottoman
Armenia became a bridge and a beehive of political and paramilitary
preparative activities, and many of these selfless devotees crossed
Atrpatakan to go to Erkir leaving a memory, a trait, a character
to remember.

As a result of concentration of manpower in Atrpatakan-cultural,
political and revolutionary-community life was bolstered.

Revolutionary activists assumed teaching positions in Tabriz, Salmast,
and Urmieh. Schools were opened in Muzhumbar, Maragha and Gardabad.

Atrpatakan Armenians developed a sense of sympathy and enthusiasm
toward the Sourp Gorts. They patronized the activists with financial
means and by interventing with the government when they were in
trouble. Were they only the facilitators with insignificant degree of
participation-as reflected in so many memories? What psychological
impact did the presence of these outsider Armenians leave upon the
Atrpatakan Armenians? Did that impact result in a lasting mindset?

The lecture will sketch the political history of Atrpatakan Armenians
in critical period between the initial years of burgeoning enthusiasm
for the liberation movement to their fervent support of the Iranian
Constitutional Revolution. Within the paradigm of Atrpatakan Armenians’
response to this history also lies the answer to the question above.

The general public is invited to participate in this special Requiem
Service and this interesting and very informative lecture and public
service program. Admission is free. There will also be a reception.

From: A. Papazian