''Khatabala'' (; ) was a twelve-page

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 ...

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

periodical published in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(Tbilisi) from 1906 to 1916 and again in 1922 and 1925–26 in the

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 occasionally

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and Georgian languages. It was founded by Astvatsatur Yeritsyan (1872–?), who edited the periodical along with Ashot Atanasyan (1870–1941). The name of ''Khatabala'' comes from a popular word used by

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

and

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

meaning misfortune, setback, or troubles, ultimately derived from the Arabic words 'error' and 'trouble, tribulation'.

History

Astvatsatur (Bagrat) Yeritsyan was a publicist and satirist. He was originally from Tsgnet (Tskneti in Georgian). He received his primary education at the

Nersisian School Nersisian School (, ''Nersisian Dprots''; ka, ნერსისიანის სემინარია, ; ) was an Armenian higher education institution in the city of Tiflis, then Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia). It operated exactly f ...

in Tiflis, then studied at the

St. Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members ...

, but dropped out and returned to Tiflis. Here, in 1906, he firstly published the Russian-language magazines ''Zhgut'' (only one issue was published) and ''Svistok'' (only two issues were published), and later, in the company of a prominent democrat and publicist Ashot Atanasyan, he founded the satirical periodical ''Khatabala''. In 1909–1912 Astvatsatur Yeritsyan also edited and published the literary, political and commercial daily ''Surhandak''. The main purpose of the magazine was to satirically depict various social phenomena, such as

inequality Inequality may refer to: * Inequality (mathematics), a relation between two quantities when they are different. * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups ** Income inequality, an unequal distribution of i ...

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

, and to ridicule backward lifestyles and values of the clergy and bureaucrats. ''Khatabala'' harshly condemned the anti-Armenian policy of the Ottoman Empire and championed the friendship of the peoples of Transcaucasia. It contained frequent responses to international events, and traced the liberation struggle of the peoples of the Balkans and the East. Its repeated solidarity with Azerbaijani satirical magazine ''Molla Nasraddin'' gained widespread attention. It is a visually stunning and extremely rich source on the life of Armenians in early twentieth-century Tiflis,

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, and beyond, and an important response to the repressive anti-Armenian policies of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and, in later years, the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was published in the Armenian and Russian languages and was closed in 1916. It was revived twice during the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

. Only one issue was published in 1922, and a total of 7 issues were published in 1925–1926. ''Khatabala'' differed from ''Karmir Motsak'' (another Armenian satirical periodical published in Tiflis) in its breadth of coverage of reality, the richness of factual material, and the color of artistic creativity. The publication affirmed the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

doctrine while also criticising the undesirable features of reality and pitting two socialist and

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

moral worlds against one another. However, the number of issues in these publications was drastically reduced, and the humor's tone and storyline changed. ''Khatabala'' also stopped publishing along with such satirical periodicals ''Shesht'', ''Zurna'', ''Karmir Motsak'' as a result of censorship. In the last years of its publication, it was published in the Armenian, Georgian and Russian languages.

Contributors

Among its contributors were Gevorg Bashinjaghian, Henryk Hryniewsky, Garegin Yeritsyan, A. Mirzoyan,

Josef Rotter Josef Rotter (fl. 1902–14) was a teacher, illustrator, and editorial cartoonist of German or Austrian origin, most noted for his contribution to the '' Molla Nasreddin'' magazine. Early life and education Rotter's date and place of birth are no ...

Atrpet Sargis Mubayeajian (; January 31, 1860 – May 27, 1937), better known by his pen name Atrpet (''Adrbed'' in Western Armenian, ), was a prolific and multifarious Armenian writer. Biography Having been educated in Kars and Constantinople, he ...

, Musheg Bagratuni, Tmblachi Khachan, Garegin Levonyan,

Hovhannes Tumanyan Hovhannes Tumanyan (, classical spelling: Յովհաննէս Թումանեան, – March 23, 1923) was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia. Tumanyan wrote poems, q ...

(1869–1923, considered the Armenian national poet),

Avetik Isahakyan Avetik Sahaki Isahakyan (; October 30, 1875 – October 17, 1957) was an Armenian lyric poet, writer and public activist. Biography Isahakyan was born in Alexandropol (present-day Gyumri, Armenia) in 1875. He was educated at the Gevorgian S ...

(1875–1957, a well-known Armenian poet), Movses Arazi,

Stepan Zoryan Stepan Yeghiayi Zoryan (, born Stepan Yeghiayi Arakelyan; September 16, 1890 – October 14, 1967) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Armenians, Armenian writer. Biography Stepan Zoryan (real surname Arakelyan) was born in 1890 to a peasant family in ...

. A number of the illustrations were also painted by Oskar Schmerling (1876–1938), the Georgian painter and graphic artist of German origin, who taught

Lado Gudiashvili Lado Gudiashvili ( ka, ლადო გუდიაშვილი; 30 March 1896 – 20 July 1980) was a Georgian painter. Life Gudiashvili was born into a family of a railroad employee. He studied in the Tbilisi school of sculpture and fin ...

and other leading modernist artists.

Gallery

File:The first issue of Khatabala (1906).jpg, alt=, Cover of the first issue from 1906 File:Khatabala 1907, No. 27, p. 1.jpg, Cover from 1907 File:Khatabala, 1908, No. 3.jpg, alt=, Cover from 1908 File:Leo Tolstoy, Khatabala, 1910, No. 46.jpg, alt=, Cover from 1910 File:Khatabala, 1906, No. 11, p. 05.jpg, alt=, The victorious return of the Caucasian deputies of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

File:Khatabala, 1907, No. 26, p. 08.jpg, alt=, The victorious return of the Caucasian deputies of the State Duma of the Second Convocation File:Khatabala, 1907, No. 31, p. 04.jpg, alt=,

pours salt,

Levon Shant Levon Shant (; born Levon Nahashbedian, then changed to Levon Seghposian; 6 April 1869 – 29 November 1951) was an Armenian playwright, novelist, poet and founder of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society. Biography He was ...

stirs the fire, Stepan Lisitsian mixes the contents of the pot with one hand, adds ''Hasker'' numbers with the other to ''Lusaber'', mother tongue textbook. File:Khatabala, 1908, No. 11, p. 07.jpg, alt=, Mullah for Azerbaijanis and ''Vdak'' leaders for Armenians are calling for a boycott of '' Molla Nasreddin'' and ''Khatabala'' respectively Armenian–Tatar massacres"> File:Khatabala, 1906, No. 06, p. 05.jpg, alt= File:Khatabala, 1906, No. 10, p. 04.jpg, alt= File:Khatabala, 1906, No. 14, p. 06.jpg, alt= File:Khatabala, 1906, No. 20, p. 08.jpg, alt=

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Khatabala
Digitized issues of ''Khatabala'' on the National Library of Armenia database

The 1926 issues of ''Khatabala'' on the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia webcite

References

1906 establishments in the Russian Empire 1926 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Magazines published in the Soviet Union Satirical magazines published in Russia Magazines established in 1906 Magazines disestablished in 1926