Tovmas Habeshian

Tovmas Habeshian was born in 1904 in Yoghun-Oluk, one of six Armenian villages in Suedia, or Musa Dagh. As a child, along with his family and the populations of the six villages, he survived the self-defense battles in August and September 1915 and was rescued by French warships that took the people of Musa Dagh to Port Sayid, Egypt.

There, in the refugee tent city, Tovmas studied in the "Sisvan" school. After the people of Musa Dagh returned to their homes in 1919, he received two more years of schooling. Thereafter, thirsting for knowledge, he sought out books and read all that he could.

He began teaching in 1922, considering it a sacred calling and his life's work. Until 1934 he taught in the local schools of Yoghun-Oluk, Vakif, and Khdrbeg. In 1939, with the evacuation of the French and the turning over to Turkey of the territories placed under French Mandate by the League of Nations, the people of Musa Dagh were once again uprooted; they were settled in Anjar, in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, where Tovmas continued to teach until 1965, when he retired.

An unassuming intellectual, he valued humility and despised all arrogance and conceit. In large part self-taught, he achieved a high level of learning, particularly in ethnographic subjects. He has published two volumes: MUSA DAGHI BABENAGAN ARTZAKANKNER (1986) and HISHADAGARAN MUSA LERAN PARPARI (1993). His writings have appeared in several journals and periodicals, including HOUSAPER, AZTAG, AZTARAR, and AGOS. He has published articles on the dialect, traditions, and local color of Musa Dagh as well as recorded folk tales for posterity. He has also written short stories and poetry.

For entire generations -- nearly 40 years -- Tovmas Habeshian instilled in his students an intense love of and respect for the Armenian language and Armenian history. A long-time member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, he held responsible positions in national and political life, both in Musa Dagh and in Anjar. One of the last surviving members of his generation, he still resides in Anjar.