The resignation of the AGBU’s president was not long in coming. On 22 April 1932, Gulbenkian sent the central board a letter announcing that he was laying down his post. All the efforts of the Union’s officers to persuade him to reconsider proved vain. After this coup de théâtre, Yerevan’s criticisms of the AGBU seem to have petered off. The central board, for its part, saw to it that the projects already in progress in Armenia were pursued, for it continued to believe that reconstructing the country called for sacrifices on its part. The Soviet regime’s successes in the fields of culture, industry, and agriculture strengthened the conviction of some AGBU leaders that they had chosen the right line of action.
This conviction is clearly reflected in the report submitted by two AGBU representatives, Léon Guerdan and Arshag Chobanian, on their return from their mission to Yerevan late in 1932. While in Armenia, they had taken part in the election of the new Armenian Catholicos of Etchmiadzin. Speaking before his colleagues on the board, Guerdan expressed “his admiration for the immense progress that the government has made in Armenia, with a ... Read all
Léon Guerdan (1886-1952)
(Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Arshag Chobanian (1872-1954) (photograph Arax, Paris; Coll. Bibl. Nubar/ Paris).
View of Yerevan in the 1920s (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
The AGBU and Soviet Armenia