Mikayel Varandian (born Mikayel Hovhannisian, 1870 – 22 April 1934) was an

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 across the ...

historian and the main theoretician of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenia ...

(ARF). Varandian was born Mikayel Hovhannisian in the village of Kyatuk in the Varanda canton of the region of

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and A ...

. He took the pen-name Varandian in honor of his home province. He received his secondary education in Shushi. He studied at

Geneva University The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, where he met ARF founders

Kristapor Mikaelian Christapor Mikaelian (Armenian: , Krisdapor Mikaelyan/Chrisdapor Mikaelian; 18 October 1859 – 17 March 1905), also known by his ''noms de guerre'' Hellen (), Topal (), and Edward (), was one of the three founders of the Armenian Revolutionary F ...

and Rostom. From 1892 he was a member of the editorial board of

Droshak ''Droshak'' (''Troshag'', hy, Դրօշակ, "Flag") is the official organ of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) published in Tiflis (1890), Balkans (1890s), Geneva (1892-1914), Paris (1925-33), Beirut (1969-85), Athens (1986-96), Yerevan ...

, the ARF's official organ, which published a large number of his articles and editorials. After 1904, he was a member of the ARF's Western Bureau, one of the party's top decision-making bodies. From 1907 he was the ARF's representative at the

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second Internatio ...

. He also served as the editor of the ARF newspaper Horizon published in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. When the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middl ...

was established in 1918, Varandian was nominated to serve as the republic's ambassador to Italy. He authored ''The History of the ARF'' (two volumes) and many other books. He died in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

on 22 April 1934.

Works

* Վերածնւող հայրենիքը եւ մեր դերը : (Դաշնակցութեան 20-ամեակի առիթով) he reborn homeland and our role: (On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Dashnaktsutiun) Geneva: ARF Press, 1910. * Բողոքը նորագոյն պատմութեան մէջ rotest in recent history Geneva: ARF Press, 1914. * Սիմոն Զաւարեան․ Գծեր իր Կեանքէն imon Zavarean: Sketches from his life Boston: Hayrenik‘, 1927. * Հ․ Յ․ Դաշնակցութեան պատմութիւն istory of A. R. Federation Paris: Navarre, 1932 (volume 1), 1950 (volume 2).

References

Sources

*The Armenian Question, encyclopedia, Ed. by acad. K. Khudaverdyan,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and ...

, 1996, p. 432.
Mikael Varantian: Profile of a National Hero
in Centro Studi "Hrand Nazariantz", 6 July 2018 (in Italian). 1870 births 1934 deaths Armenian people from the Russian Empire Writers from Shusha Ethnic Armenian historians Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International {{armenia-historian-stub