Perchuhi Partizpanyan-Barseghyan ( hy, Պերճուհի Պարտիզպանյան-Բարսեղյան, 1886 – 18 May 1940) was an Armenian pedagog, writer and humanitarian worker. She was one of the first three women elected to serve as a member of the parliament with the formation of 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 Middle ...

in 1919. After the fall of the republic, she briefly relocated to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, before continuing her literary career in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. She received recognition for her short stories from the American

anthologist In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

, Edward J. O'Brien. She worked in the Nansen International Office for Refugees in Paris trying to assist Armenians who had been effected by the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the 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 through t ...

Early life

Perchuhi Partizpanyan was born in 1886 in

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

, Adrianople Vilayet,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. She was the daughter of a wealthy Armenian family. Along with her sister, Satenik, she attended high school in Philippopolis,

. At a young age, she became inspired by revolutionary ideas of Rostom and his wife Lisa Melik Shahnazarian, who were operating an Armenian school there. When she returned home to Edirne, at sixteen, she met , an intellectual and member 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 Armenian ...

, also known as the Dashnaktsutyun. He encouraged her to start the Armenian Women's Union, ( hy, Հայ կանանց միություն), an organization to encourage other women to write and discuss Armenian literature and progressive ideas. Resuming her studies, Partizpanyan attended college in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

studying literature and pedagogy. She began to publish writings under the pseudonym ''Etna'', including several short stories which were later compiled and published as ''Փոթորիկէն վերջ'' (The End of the Storm).

Career

After completing her education, Partizpanyan returned to Ottoman Armenia and began teaching first in

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

and then in

Giresun Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. Etymology Giresun ...

. In 1909, she married Sargis Barseghyan, who had become the head of the Dashnaktsutyun in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. They had a son before Sargis was arrested in March 1915 and executed on 30 April by the state as one of the first victims of the

. After the massacre of intellectuals, Barseghyan took her son and fled to

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria, but soon settled 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 pe ...

and resumed teaching. She taught at and later at , both Armenian schools located in the capital of the Tiflis Governorate, of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. When Armenia gained its independence from the Russian Empire and established the

on 28 May 1918, Barseghyan moved to

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 i ...

. Though not a women's right's activist, Barseghyan believed in public roles for women and along with other members of the Dashnaktsutyun worked to ensure that the new constitution provided for

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

. She was socially active and worked with other women to provide care for orphans and refugees. When the first elections were held on 21 and 23 June 1919, Barseghyan was one of three women elected to serve in the 80-member parliament. The other two women who served were Varvara Sahakyan and

Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan (died 1965) was an Armenian politician. In 1919 she was elected to parliament, becoming one of the first three female MPs in the country. Biography Zalyan-Manukyan was a nurse and worked at orphanages. She married Aram M ...

. They served until December 1920, when Red Army of Russia invaded Armenia. With the collapse of the Republic, Barseghyan took her son and returned briefly to Sofia. Committed to serving on behalf of the Armenian people, she chose to live in exile in

, where she worked at the Nansen International Office for Refugees and continued her literary endeavors. One of her short stories received an award from the American

, Edward J. O'Brien, and stories like ''Արփիկը'' (Arpik) and ''Օղակ մը շղթայէս'' (One Ring Chain) were translated into English and French. She published her memoirs, ''Խանձուած օրերը'' (Days of Distress), as a series in the American journal '' Hairenik'' between 1938 and 1939.

Death and legacy

Barseghyan died on 18 May 1940 in Paris and was buried there in the tomb of Armenian intellectuals. Her son translated her memoirs into French and published them 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 Fra ...

in 2004. In 2016, Hakob Palian, writer and journalist, edited a new publication of them for Hamazkayin Publishing House of Beirut in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Her works, but especially her memoir, are significant representations of the historic

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

in Armenia's struggle and the role women played in protecting the nation and people in their quest for independence.

Selected works

* ''Հայրենիքս'' (My Homeland), 1915 poem * * ''Արփիկը'' (Arpik, short story) * ''Օղակ մը շղթայէս'' (One Ring Chain, short story) *

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Partizpanyan-Barseghyan, Perchuhi 1886 births 1940 deaths People from Edirne Humanitarians Armenian educators 19th-century Armenian women 20th-century Armenian women writers Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to France Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Members of the National Assembly (Armenia) 20th-century Armenian women politicians 20th-century Armenian politicians