Tag Archives: national identity

THE SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE OF THE HISTORIAN
(A Critical View of Karen Hayrapetyan’s Two-Volume Work)

This review examines the two posthumously published volumes of historian Karen Hayrapetyan, who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic, which bring together the core part of his scholarly legacy devoted to the issues of Western Armenian refugees and factionalism in the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920). The posthumous publication of Karen Hayrapetyan’s intellectual legacy in two volumes constitutes a substantial contribution to Armenian historical scholarship and the politics of memory surrounding the First Republic of Armenia. The research explores the interrelation between the influx of Western Armenian refugees and the problem of factionalism during 1918–1920, grounded in an exceptional range of archival sources and statistical data. Hayrapetyan interprets mass displacement not as a humanitarian catastrophe alone but as a defining moment in the reconstruction of Armenian statehood and the reconfiguration of national identity.

Through his detailed analyses, he demonstrates how the fragile cohesion between Eastern and Western Armenians deteriorated under political and social pressures, leading to fragmentation that undermined the foundations of statehood. The study of the First Western Armenian Congress reveals the political and psychological dimensions of this tension, highlighting competing visions of sovereignty and nation-building. His reflections on governmental policy – relating to refugee settlement, resource allocation, and civic responsibility – are invaluable for understanding how the young republic sought to balance compassion with institutional capacity.

By consolidating dispersed writings into a unified corpus, the two-volume edition closes major historiographical gaps and provides a structured foundation for subsequent inquiry. It simultaneously demonstrates how state-building in Armenia was both a struggle for political legitimacy and a moral endeavour to preserve dignity under existential threat. Hayrapetyan’s methodology, characterised by intellectual integrity and empathy, exemplifies a form of historical scholarship where patriotism is inseparable from critical analysis.

The posthumous publication of Hayrapetyan’s two-volume work also stands as a monument to scholarly integrity and his selfless dedication to Armenian studies. It offers the reader a profound synthesis of historical reasoning, moral clarity, and civic awareness – qualities rarely so harmoniously balanced. In preserving Hayrapetyan’s analytical voice, the publication ensures that the conversation between history and the nation’s moral imagination continues across generations.