Raffi (Hakob Melik Hakobian)

Jelaleddin Raffi (Hakob Melik Hakobian) Armenian edition

"The unforgettable tale of a man, a woman, and the story of a brutal massacre of Armenians by the hands of a Turkish Sheik, written by Raffi, one of Armenia's most popular writers. Although not a novel of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 per se , Raffi's masterpiece is as important to understanding the historical context of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century as any history textbook. It can be argued that if Raffi's messages of Armenian self-sufficiency had been more widely heeded, the tragedies of the 1890s and 1915 might have turned out differently. It was written in 1878 long before the large-scale massacres and ultimately the Armenian Genocide began. Raffi called for action, unity, and self-reliance. Many of his criticisms of the Armenian community of the time are equally as applicable today as they were nearly 125 years ago. He foresaw what was in store for the Armenians if they did not actively seek to change their fate. The fame of Raffi is based on his tendentious novels and stories such as "Jelalleddin", "Khent", "Sparkles", "Samuel", "David-Bek" depicting the hardships the Armenian people faced. He gained insight into the baser side of mankind through real life experiences during his travels. More than once he portrays representatives of the younger generation as courageous and independent people full of sympathy for their nation and hatred towards its enemies, ready to work and struggle (E.g. Sarhat in "Jelalleddin", Vardan and Dudukchiyan in "Khent", Aslan and Karo in "Sparkles").