Hayk Asatryan (; 5 February 1900 – 13 January 1956) was an Armenian

political theorist A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars. Ancient * Aristotle * Chanakya * Cicero * Confucius * Mencius * ...

, an associate and close friend of

Garegin Nzhdeh Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan, better known by his ''nom de guerre'' Garegin Nzhdeh (, ; 1 January 1886 – 21 December 1955), was an Armenian statesman, military commander and nationalist revolutionary. As a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Fed ...

, and one of the founders of Tseghakronism and Taronism. He authored several books and articles on the history of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Biography

Asatryan was born in Alashkert. During his school years, he joined the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...

and published the party's newspaper ''Shant'' in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

from 1918 to 1919. He participated in the 1921

February Uprising The February Uprising () was an anti-Bolshevik rebellion by the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation which started on February 13 and was suppressed on April 2, 1921, by the recapture of Yerevan by Bolshevik forces. Background After t ...

, and then settled in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He later studied in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Prague, graduating in 1930 with the title of Doctor of Philosophical Sciences. He remained engaged in ARF party activities and was a member of the ARF Central Committee. Due to disagreements with his colleagues, Asatryan left the party in 1935. He worked closely with

and together they founded the ideology of Tseghakronism. Asatryan co-edited the ''Razmik'' and ''Eagle Taron'' newspapers with Nzhdeh from 1937 to 1944 in Bulgaria. In 1942, he published the book ''Armenia - Aryan Outpost in Western Asia'' in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. This book was meant to prove the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

origin of the Armenian people, amid propaganda in the German press that Armenians were of Semitic origin and to be exterminated. In 1944, he was arrested by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

soldiers in Bulgaria and transferred to prison, while his family was exiled to Pavlikeni. He was granted amnesty in 1955 and died a year later in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

from a heart attack.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asatryan, Hayk 1890 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Armenian writers Armenian male writers Armenian nationalists Armenian Revolutionary Federation politicians Armenian expatriates in Bulgaria Charles University alumni People from Eleşkirt 20th-century Armenian philosophers