MONTE
MELKONIAN:
A TALENTED SCHOLAR
and DEFENDER OF KARABAKH’S SELF-DETERMINATION
In assessing
the grand victories of May, in particular, the victory won at the World War II and
the liberation of Shushi, it is important not only to perceive the value of
feat of arms of the Homeland’s defender, but also to represent him as a gifted
person, a patriot and an intellectual. In the history of the Armenian people
instances are not rare when a scholar or a man of art, at a fatal hour for his
people, rose in arms to defend his Homeland, the spiritual values and glorious traditions of
the nation. Such examples were numerous, especially in the 20th century, and in
particular - in the Artsakh liberation war. In this aspect, characteristic is
the image of Monte Melkonian, the National Hero of the Republic of Armenia
(RA). It is no mere chance, that Hayk Kotanjian - Advisor of the RA Minister of
Defense, Head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, MOD, RA, Doctor
of Political Science, visiting Levon Shant Secondary School N 4 in Yerevan -
where within the anniversary of the liberation of Shushi an event devoted to
the memory of Monte Melkonian was organized by schoolchildren of 5-6 classes -
presented them with a bibliographically unique edition of Monte Melkonian’s
Master’s Thesis titled "Urartian Rock-Cut Tombs. Description and
Analysis". The General’s gift embraced a special meaning, as it was
intended to introduce Monte Melkonian to the public anew.
In 1995, when
after the armistice the Republic of Armenia within its limited capacities
started to build the Armed Forces and consolidate the Army, when, due to cyclic
power cutoffs, poor transport, and food shortage the activities of the majority
of enterprises and institutions, primarily academic and educational
establishments, were put on hold, Monte Melkonian’s widow Seda and Dr. Aram
Kalantaryan, the Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National
Academy of Sciences (NAS), RA, turned to Dr. Hayk Kotanjian with a request to
publish the Master’s thesis of the national hero having bravely fallen on the
battlefield. Under the high patronage of the then Minister of Defense, National
Hero of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan and with the assistance of his Deputies Vahan
Shirkhanyan and Hmayak Aroyan, it was decided to immediately publish this
valuable research, which Monte Melkonian had defended for Master’s Degree in
“Archaeology and History of Asia” at the prestigious University of Berkeley,
US, in 1978. Before that, Monte had graduated the four-year Bachelor’s program in
2.5 years. He mastered seven languages.
Introducing his research work to the public was of great importance as it represented Monte Melkonian, the former fighter of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), who rose to defend Nagorno-Karabakh - self-determined in compliance with the legislation then in force - in a new way, as a talented researcher from the US and a young Armenian, who, abandoning a brilliant career of a scholar abroad (he had been enrolled in Postgraduate studies at the Oxford University, but quit it), came to selflessly and entirely devote himself to the noble cause of defending the Armenians of Artsakh. Moreover, the publication of the freedom-fighter’s research through depicting his true image neutralized the enemy’s deliberate attempts to denigrate Monte Melkonian.
So as to organize
a decent publication of the freedom-fighter’s research paper an editorial team
was created under Dr. Hayk Kotanjian’s supervision, which was to work on the
translation text minutely and with interest, and issued it meeting the academic
criteria and requirements. The editorial team comprised of the academic partners
from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS, RA - PhDs in History
Rusan Mkrtchyan, Simon Hmayakyan, Ashot Piliposyan, Pavel Avetisyan; highly
skilled specialists of the defense-academic journal MOD, RA “Haykakan Banak”
(“Armenian Defense”) - Doctor of History, Professor Boris Balayan, PhD in
Philosophy, Associate Professor Vladimir Baghdasaryan, Executive Editor Davit Chilingaryan, Art and Technical
Editor Razmik Gevorgyan, Graphic Designer Sergey Narazyan, as well as a group of professional officers
on computer software support from the Computing Center of the MOD, RA, under
the guidance of Chief Specialist Samvel Atoyan.
The selfless
efforts by the team did yield the desired result: the product of Monte Melkonian’s
scientific thinking turned into an academic publication, which was the
continuation of the series of the “Archaeological Monuments of Armenia” by
the Institute
of Archaeology and
Ethnography, NAS, RA, interrupted due to lack of required resources. It was the
defense-academic journal “Haykakan Banak”, MOD, RA, to be the publisher. At the
request of Monte’s widow the publication was sent to the Universities of
Sorbonne, Berkeley and to other academic educational centers of the world.
It should be
highlighted that Monte Melkonian was, as a matter of fact, born for science. Arriving
in Armenia
he showed a great interest in the academic centers of Armenia,
including the Institute
of Oriental Studies
of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
He used to attend that Institute throughout a month, communicate with the
members of the Institute, and take part in academic discussions. He was very
happy to find out that there was a Department of Arabic Studies at the
Institute. At that time I was not only the Deputy Director of the Institute,
but also the Head of the above-mentioned Department. We often used to have
talks on the important role the Arabs had played in saving the Armenians deported
in the course of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire. He underlined that if it weren’t for the Arabs
and their support, the contemporary Armenian Diaspora would never survive. He
even wanted to draft a perspective plan on developing the Arabic studies. But
he didn’t manage to. The Karabakh war broke out, and Monte changed his pen with
the sword.
Later on, one
of his friends, Dean of the Department of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State
University Dr. Gurgen Melikyan, one day phoned me. There was such a deep grief
in his voice that we were all stunned. He said: “Monte is gone…” For his merits
to the Republic
of Nagorno-Karabakh Monte Melkonian
was awarded the highest title of the “Hero of Artsakh” and the order of “Golden
Eagle”. In 1996 he was posthumously awarded the highest honorary title of the
“National Hero of the Republic
of Armenia”.
But the
memory of him is alive. So now, Monte Melkonian, the National Hero of the Republic
of Armenia, the Hero of Artsakh appears before the grateful descendents not
only in the image of a true knight of his Homeland, but also as a talented scholar,
who sacrificed his career and life for the sake of the freedom of his Homeland and
for the independence and development of its people.
Nikolay
Hovhannisyan
Doctor of History, Professor
Corresponding Member of the NAS, Armenia
Honored Scientist
