Soghomon Melik Hakobian

Soghomon Melik Hakobian was related to the illustrious Armenian writer Raffi. He was born in 1883 in the Payajuk village of Salmast in Iran and died in 1964 in Tehran. He was sent to the Nersisian school in Tiflis, Georgia. Upon completing his studies, he went to Moscow to pursue higher education, but due to financial issues, he returned to Tiflis, sought to enter Ejmiatsin’s Gevorkian Seminary with the help of Khrimian Father, went to Salmast to inform his family, but was faced with his parents’ opposition to his plan. Thus, he remained in Payajuk and began teaching at the local school. For the next fifty years he was a sought-after educator in Armenian schools, taking him from Salmast to Tabriz, Mashhad, Neyshabour, New Jughah, and Maragha. In addition to teaching, Melik Hakobyan was a prolific contributor to several Armenian newspapers such as Ալիք (Alik), Հայրենիք (Hayrenik), Լույս (Louys), Նաւասարդ (Navasard), and Արմենուհի (Armenouhi), including the famed satirical papers, Բօբօխ (Bobokh) and Ցախաւել (Tsakhavel). His writings were appreciated for their clear, direct, and pleasing language. In 1965, a volume entitled Երկեր (Collected Works), was posthumously published in Tehran.