The 1920s coincide with significant political and cultural upheavals in the history of the Armenian people.<\/p>\n
The Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman and Turkish authorities, as well as the collapse of the First Republic of Armenia, and the Soviet persecutions that followed caused an immense chaos. The survivors were dispersed all over the world. Middle Eastern countries became the primary safe heaven.<\/p>\n
It was at such a momentous time that a group of nine intellectuals, among whom were writer and educator Levon Shant, historian and critic Nigol Aghpalian, the prime minister of the First Republic of Armenia Hamo Ohanjanian, as well as stage director and art critic Kasbar Ipegian founded the Hamazkayin Publishing and Cultural Association in Cairo, on May 28, 1928.<\/p>\n
Hamazkayin aims to bestow the young generation with Armenian education, as well as the cyllabus of the host country. The organization’s goals also include preserving national identity and cultural traditions in a people living outside its homeland.<\/p>\n
Successive chapters of Hamazkayin were thus created in all the communities of the Middle East, as well as in Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, and Australia. Since the Republic of Armenia regained its independence, Hamazkayin has also had a representative office in Armenia.<\/p>\n
Hamazkayin has established a number of secondary and higher education institutions. Acknowledged writers, philologists and political activists have graduated from those institutions. Hamazkayin has also undertaken immense publishing activities. For the past 70 years, as well as for some 30 years in the United States, Hamazkayin has facilitated the cultural progress of the Armenian people.<\/p>\n
Hamazkayin is a non-profit organization. Currently it functions under the official name Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society.<\/p>\n