Hunchak Figure Tashir (Simon Hovvian): Public and Political Activities, 1915–1921

Hovhannisyan, Gegham · 2025

The First World War threw the Hunchak Party into crisis and left its Paris central administration non-functional, prompting a new leadership to form in Tiflis, where Tashir (Simon Hovvian) was elected. Already known as a publicist, party theorist and teacher at the Gevorgyan Seminary, he edited the newspaper Gaghapar in 1916–1917. Tashir was sceptical of the Armenian volunteer movement and tied the resolution of the Armenian Question to international social democracy and national self-determination. Between 1917 and 1920, as many Transcaucasian Hunchaks drifted toward the Bolsheviks, he argued for the Hunchak Party's independent existence, holding that Armenian liberation depended on Soviet Russia and on internal Armenian conditions rather than on the European powers.

Citation checked against the publisher's record on 2026-07-13.