The scientific conference Educational-Cultural Life in the First Republic of Armenia, organized by the Hamazkayin Association, Yerevan State University and National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, took place on May 15-16, 2018, at Yerevan State University's central building.
On the first day of the Conference, YSU Rector Aram Simonyan and Chair of the Central Executive Board of Hamazkayin, Dr. Meguerditch Meguerditchian, delivered welcoming speeches emphasizing the importance of this conference.
24 experts from Armenia and the Diaspora delivered at the conference brief reports on Armenia of 1918-1920. The reports were mainly related to the educational and cultural life, and the topics were diverse and versatile.
The reports of the first session were related to the educational and cultural policies of those years, organization of education, school system and the connections with Diaspora.
During the second session, the reporters presented the policy developed during the First Republic of Armenia regarding the participation of church in the educational and cultural life, to arts and Armenian manuscripts, the establishment of the National Library, and the programs of the Armenian telecasting stations in 1991-2018 concerning the history of the First Republic.
The reporters of the third and fourth sessions focused on literary topics. The literature created during the First Republic of Armenia and the educational and cultural issues, Hovhannes Tumanyan’s and Nikol Aghbalian's literary activities and their world outlook of that period, the allegory of advices in Zareh Khrakhuni’s poetry concerning the state, and the records of Sasna Dzrer epic poem were touched upon. Reports were also made about Kostan Zaryan's The Ship on the Mountain and about Yervand Frangyan, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences.
The discussions taking place at the end of each session showed the participants’ interest towards the topics. The parallels drawn between the first and third republics were remarkable, and they emphasized the efforts made by the government of the First Republic to have an up-to-date, strong and national educational-cultural system.
The Conference, organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Armenia's First Independent Republic, and the 90th anniversary of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association, succeeded in accomplishing its goals. It discussed the literary and cultural life formed 100 years before according to comprehensive, scientific and up-to-date criteria, touching upon the principles of the state policy regarding the science and education, referring to the formed institutions of higher education, other national institutions and other topics.
It outlined a very broad range of topics worthy of extensive research and presentation, especially when they concern our statehood’s such an important period of history, the First Republic of Armenia.
Hamazkayin Yerevan Office