DAVID ANANUN: LIFE AND ACTIVITY
Yerevan, 2023
David Ananun (David Hovhannes Ter-Danielyan), is one of the prominent figures of the Armenian reality of the first 30 years of the 20th century. He was born in Mets Shen village of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1880. He spent his years of adolescence and youth in Baku, serving in oil companies. In 1905, he joined the Armenian Social-Democratic Labor Organization (the so-called “specifics”) and became one of its leaders and prominent ideologists.
The renowned public-political figure, historian-economist, philosopher-sociologist, publicist-editor, literary critic D. Ananun left a rich scientific, political and literary legacy scattered on the pages of the periodical press. If all his published researches, articles, editorials, reviews, translations are put together, they can make dozens of volumes. However, the masterpiece of his works is the three-volume study “Public Development of Russian-Armenians” (vol. 1, Baku, 1916; vol. 2, Etchmiadzin, 1922; vol. 3, Venice, 1926). Using a large number of materials and statistical data in his studies, D. Ananun analyzed the patterns of economic, political and cultural development of Eastern Armenians, put forward the idea of the need for national consolidation. On how to address the issues of the Armenian national liberation movement and the Armenian Question, D. Ananun was in polemics with the Bolsheviks and ARF Dashnaktsutyun. He rejected the demagogy of ARF Dashnaktsutyun and the “ardent” internationalism of the Bolsheviks. He did not accept as well the role of class consciousness in history and gave priority to the consciousness of national identity. D. Ananun’s assessment on Russia’s progressive role in the social development of Armenian people in the 19th century retains its relevance.
In March 1918, D. Ananun took part in the defeat of the Musavat forces by the Baku Commune and the Armenian National Council. He was a special guardian-commissar who ensured the safety of the Muslims living or hiding in the Armenian part of the city.
Throughout his life activity, especially in 1918–1920, the situation in Nagorno Karabakh was of great concern to D. Ananun, who visited the region several times, shared his impressions and observations with the Armenian public through a series of articles. Among them, the article “Karabakh” stands out, in which he substantiates the necessity to reunite Karabakh with the “motherland” – Armenia.
At the beginning of July 1919, D. Ananun moved from Tiflis to Yerevan. He contributed to the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia through his literary, cultural and socio-political activities. He held a number of state positions, edited the bi-weekly newspaper “Cooperation of Armenia”. He was in constant contact with the literary, cultural and public figures – Hovh. Tumanyan, Ash. Hovhannisyan, V. Teryan, Vrt. Papazyan, Leo, D. Demirchyan, Ye. Charents, St. Zoryan, P. Makintsyan, K. Mikaelyan and others.
After the establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia, D. Ananun took an active part in state building, particularly, in the cultural and educational sphere. He was a researcher at the Cultural and Historical Institute in Etchmiadzin, worked for the Institute’s “Banber” (“Herald”) periodical, and gave lectures on relevant topics. From 1923 to 1926 he was the Head of the Department of Revolution of the State Museum of Armenia. Thanks to his energetic efforts, he made a great contribution to the museum’s collection in the form of numerous documents, collections of newspapers, books, archival materials, items, and related funds. However, his political and ideological views, the fact that he belonged to “specifics” in the past, the ideas of “unification of Armenians” and national consolidation were sharply criticized, he was called a “nationalist” and a “harmful element”.
On July 28, 1927, D. Ananun was arrested as a “fierce enemy of the proletarian revolution and the Soviet power”, on April 27, 1928, he was sentenced to three years and exiled to the village of Ilyino, Tomsk region, Narim territory, then he was sent to a concentration camp in Ufa. After serving his sentence, he was forbidden to live in the central parts of the country, as well as in the Caucasus and he settled in Astrakhan. After some time, on August 16, 1939, he was again arrested and sentenced to 10 years of exile but, taking into account his age, he was sent to the camp in Astrakhan where he died in 1943. He was rehabilitated in 1989.
