Arpiar Arpiarian was born in 1851 aboard a ship as his parents, who were originally from Akn, were traveling from Samsun to Constantinople. The family settled in the suburb of Ortaköy, where Arpiar attended the Tarkmanchats Armenian school. In 1867, he was sent to Venice to attend the Murat-Raphaelian school. At Murat-Raphaelian, he studied Armenian language and history under the tutelage of Ghevond Alishan. He also became familiarized with French and Italian literature. He graduated from the school and returned to Constantinople where he was offered a secretarial position at the Armenian Patriarchate. During this time, he also worked as an accountant. However, Arpiarian's true calling was journalism and literature.
His first works in literature started in Grigor Artsruni's Mshak newspaper, which was published in Tiflis. He would write articles under the pen name "Haygag" about various aspects of Armenian life in Constantinople, all of which were flavored with satire. By 1878, he had already become a regular contributor to dailies and periodicals, mainly in Masis, of which he was an editor alongside famed Armenian writer and politician Krikor Zohrab. His articles became very popular among Caucasian Armenians. In 1884, he visited Tiflis on the occasion of the election of a new Catholicos in Echmiadzin where he was received as a renowned writer. There, he had the occasion to meet Eastern Armenian authors Raffi, Proshian, Aghayan and others. Upon his return to Constantinople with new impressions and information, he wrote a series of articles entitled Ughevorutiun i Kovkasia. In 1884, alongside other intellectuals, he launched a new daily called Arevelk with the aim of promoting closer relations between Eastern and Western Armenians. Arevelk, which was a literary and political newspaper with democratic tendencies, attracted a number of young writers who would form the core of the school of realism. The paper was published until 1912.
Political activism
Along with being a writer, Arpiar Arpiarian was a political activist and revolutionary who supported reforms in the Ottoman Empire in light of Sultan Abdul Hamid II's treatment of the Armenian population. In 1889, Arpiarian joined the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and founded the Ararat Society with a group of youths to spread education in the Ottoman provinces. In 1890, he participated in the Kum Kapu demonstration and was arrested as a revolutionary with a number of other Hunchakians and jailed for two months. He was released in a general amnesty. In 1891, he founded and became editor of the daily Hayrenik with his friend, Hovhannes Shahnazarian. This paper was suppressed by the sultan for its democratic ideas.
In 1896, the Hamidian massacres began and in order to escape the fate of other Armenians, he fled Constantinople to London. In London, he attempted to publish two monthly reviews, Mart and Nor Kyank in which Levon Pashalian would contribute, both papers being sponsored by the Hunchakians. At this time, the political party split. Arpiarian reorganized one of the factions, Veragazmial Hunchakianner, into a viable entity but would eventually leave the party. With this decision, he ultimately created enemies from within his old entourage.
In 1901–1902, he traveled to Paris and then Venice where he wrote his most successful work, the novella Garmir Jamuts. In 1905, he traveled to Cairo. In Cairo, he edited the literary monthly review Shirag and contributed in the local paper, Lusaper. In 1908, his political enemies assassinated him while Arpiarian was returning home from the market.
Legacy and works
Arpiarian is considered the founder of realism in modern Armenian literature, the leader of a literary movement without an established school. While many writers were into romanticism at the time, he introduced a new trend that revolutionized Armenian literature. He gained the confidence of his readers by expressing his thoughts honestly and without shame. He was the mentor of an entire generation of Armenian realist writers such as Tigran Kamsarakan, Levon Pashalian and Erukhan. Most of his literary work is written in short story form and deals with the working classes and social issues. Some of his better known stories are:
