THE PEACEKEEPING MISSION  OF HOVH. TUMANYAN – 2019-1

At the afterglow of February  Rebellion of 1921

Summary

Ararat M. Hakobyan

The all Armenian poet Hovh. Tumanyan, whose 150th  anniversary was celebrated this year during his short but stormy and saturated life besides creating literary-creative genius monuments has conducted  civic courageous steps even at the cost of  endangering his life. Such is the episode about his courageous step conducted  during February revolt of 1921 that broke out against  Bolsheviks shortly afterwards of the Sovietization of Armenia:he arrived to Yerevan from T iflis and reconciled the two opposing sides, namely, the rebellions and the Bolsheviks.

At the last stage of the revolt in frosty winter conditions  on March 13 the poet leaves for Yerevan due to the wish of the Armenians  living in Tiflis, on behalf of communist leader of Transcaucasia S. Orjonikidze and , certainly, by the call of his own heart, on February 13 arrives to Yerevan on the mission of reconciliation. By overcoming great dangers the Armenian poet reaches Yerevan, perceives the unbreakable will of rebellious people in the front line and in the capital struggling for freedom and national rights. By becoming in touch with the leader of CSH S.Vratsyan and others he makes efforts for ceasing the fighting  and in spite of being ill he corresponds with the Soviet ruling circles and family members and states from the sight of a witness that the February events were not adventures undertaken by a group of people but the speech of masses against the despotic Bolshevik regime. Though due to hostile posture of opposing sides the peacekeeping mission of Hovh. Tumanyan didn’t certainly give immediate results but surely had some moral effect from the perspective of mitigating the intolerant and hostile moods of both sides.

It is necessary to mention that in historical-philological literature of the Soviet period the issue of estimating the peacekeeping mission of the Armenian poet is controversial up to now. The thing is that in the works of historians and literary critics of Soviet period dealing with this problem is party- ideological partiality. Particularly the allegations about Tumanyan’s home arrest when he just arrived to Yerevan  have been encircled too much which was purely persuading a political-propogandistic goal for shaping a viewpoint among the people that dashnaks had arrested even the Armenian poet. The argument for such allegation was the thing that on February 25 Georgia had become a Soviet country, which was kept as possible in secret in Armenia for the sake of providing state security and secrecy so that the society and the rebels wouldn’t learn about the fact of Sovietization of Georgia that could have affected their fighting spirit. And as the poet had arrived from Georgia the authorities of Armenia tried to keep it in secret so that the rebels wouldn’t be disappointed. In fact the reason for Tumanyan’s not leaving his elder daughter Ashkhen’s  house was the severe winter: while crossing the front line in the sector of Akhta(Hrazdan)-Fanta the poet appeared under cross-fighting and, the sick poet  caught cold and when reaching home actually became bed sick and  got up only on April 2 when the 11th Red Army occupied Yerevan. The thing that Hovh. Tumanyan was bed sick is stated by the poet himself. Actually the revolt was oppressed , and on April 18 the Armenian poet returned to Tiflis together with S. Orjonikidze who had arrived to Armenia beforehand

Such was the odyssey  of the given episode from the civil life of all Armenian poet.

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