HRATCHIK ROUBEN SIMONYAN

NASRA Academician

Professor of Historical Sciences

Hratchik Simonyan was born in 9th of December 1928, in Shinouhayr village of Goris town, and has passed away on 29th of January 2016. After finishing the local middle school, he entered Yerevan State University’s Faculty of History, from where he graduated in 1952. At the same year he became a literary employee in “Soviet Armenia” newspaper, and then was sent to Goris to become the executive secretary of the regional newspaper. Whereas in 1953 he worked for Goris’ Regional Committee of Armenia’s Communist Party; at first as an instructor and later as the head of the department. Then in 1957-1959 he was an ideological secretary. Between 1959-1962 Hratchik Simonyan studied at Soviet Union’s Central Committee’s Social Sciences Academy. In 1962 he defended his PhD thesis in Moscow, where he published it and wrote his first monograph.

During 1962-1966 he worked as a researcher at Armenia’s Communist Party’s Institute of History; along he was the team leader of the lecturers of Armenia’s Communist Party in 1966-1977, and then, the first deputy of the department. During 1977-1990 he was the head of the same institute.

In 1990-1991 H. Simonyan was appointed as an academician secretary of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic’s Science Academy. Along 1991-1994 he was the chairman of the Committee of Cultural Relations together with the diaspora Armenians.

By 1969 Hratchik Simonyan has defended his doctoral thesis. Then in 1971 he was awarded the title of Professor. Since 1964 he had been lecturing in Yerevan State University and other universities.

In 1986 he was elected as the reporter of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1996 he is an academician at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. During 1994-2007 H. Simonyan was the adviser of the president of NAS RA, at the same time he was the head of the chair of Armenians History (1999-2003), while since 2004; Professor at the same chair. Various years he had been a member of the Presidium of NAS RA.

Hratchik Simonyan is the author of more than 20 monographs and around 400 scientific articles. Among them  the articles “Diaspora Armenian’s Social-Political Struggle Paths” (Yerevan, 1968), “The Turkish National Bourgeoisie’s Ideology and Politics” (Yerevan, 1980), “Scientific and Technological Revolution and Its Social Consequences” (Yerevan, 1982), “From the History of the Turkish-Armenian Relations” (Yerevan, 1991), “Andranik’s Age” (I, II, Yerevan, 1996) monographs, “The Paths of the Liberation Struggle” multivolume study (the first five books, Yerevan, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2013) are of particular importance. In the centennial memory of the Cilician Armenians massacres; his book “The Destruction of Armenians in Cilicia, April 1909» was published in Yerevan, in 2009 and later in English (Gomidas Institute, London, 2012).

Hratchik Simonyan’s several works have been published in Czechoslovakia, USA, Lebanon, Iran, Greece and Japan.

Under his leadership, numerous doctoral and PhD thesis have been defended. He has made various presentations in Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi, Baku, USA, France, Germany and elsewhere. 

Hratchik Simonyan was a member of Armenia’s Communist Party’s Central Committee, also the chairman of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic’s Supreme Pardon Council; regional and municipal council. As well as, the delegate of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic’s Supreme Council, and then the delegate of the Republic of Armenia’s National Assembly.      

From 1977 until 1990; he was the head of the Professional Degree Awarding Council of the Institute of History of Armenia’s Communist Party.

From 2008 until 2012; H. Simonyan was the head of  the department of Genocide Studies of YSU Institute for Armenian Studies.