Hamo Ohanjanian was born in Akhalkalak (Javakhk) in 1873. He received his education in Tbilisi, and then studied medicine in Switzerland and Moscow.

In 1912 he was exiled to Siberia and set free in 1915. During the years of Armenia’s First Republic he was appointed prime minister. After Armenia became part of the Soviet Union, Ohanjanian moved to Iran and then to Cairo, where he lived until his death.

Aware of the threat hanging upon Armenians in the diaspora Ohanjanian, together with his friends and colleagues, dedicated himself to the task of safeguarding Armenians through the Armenian culture. He became a constant and devoted supporter of the Hamazkayin Cultural Association, of which he was a founding member and Chairperson for 18 years. While in Paris he established a chapter of Hamazkayin there. He also provided important input for the establishment of the Hamazkayin Armenian Lyceum (Djemaran) in Beirut in 1930.

Nigol Aghpalian was born in Tbilisi in 1875. He was educated at the Nersissian School in Tbilisi and the Kevorkian Seminary (Djemaran) in Echmiadzin. At a very young age he devoted himself to teaching. At the same time he contributed with literary criticism to the “Mourj” (“Hammer”) monthly based in Tbilisi. From 1909-1912 he was the principal of the Armenian national school in Tehran.

He was a member of the National Council and a member of the organizing committee of the Armenian volunteer troops during World War I. In 1918, after the independence of Armenia, he became a member of the parliament. In 1919 he was appointed minister of education. It is due to his efforts that on January 31, 1920 the State University of Armenia was established in Gyumri.

From 1923 to 1928, he was the principal of the Armenian School in Alexandria. In 1928, he became one of the founders of Hamazkayin Association and subsequently founded the Hamazkayin Djemaran (Lyceum) in Beirut together with Levon Shant. He taught history of Armenian literature and archaic Armenian in Djemaran. At the same time, he contributed to the Armenian press with scholarly articles and literary criticism.

Levon Shant was born in Constantinople, in 1869. He received his education at the Kevorkian Seminary in Echmiadzin, and continued his higher education at universities in Germany and Switzerland.

For years, he was a teacher and educator, as well as a public and political figure and political activist in Armenia and the Armenian communities in the Diaspora. He was the vice president of the parliament of the first Republic of Armenia, one of the founders of Hamazkayin, and the primary founder of Hamazkayin Djemaran in Beirut, where he was the school principal for twenty years at the same time teaching pedagogy and psychology. He was capable of inspiring the young generation about the importance of education in preserving the national identity.

When he was the principal of Diemaran, he published school textbooks and also found time for his creative writing and for the development of the theater.

After completing his higher education, Kasbar Ipegian settled in Cairo, where he earned his living as a tradesman. One of the founders of Hamazkayin, Kasbar Ipegian was an absolute authority in the Armenian theater as a gifted actor, dramaturge, and director. For nearly three decades with great dedication he advocated the art of theater in the Armenian communities in Tbilisi. Constantinople, Tehran, Baghdad, and Egypt.

Although Kasbar Ipegian was a lawyer who graduated from Sorbonne, he never used his diploma. Life took him on a different path. Mastering various languages and literatures, he was an artist interested in theater and stage. A year after Hamazkayin Djemaran was established in Beirut. he founded the new Armenian theater and directed “Oshin Bail” by Levon Shant.

As the chairman of the Beirut Committee of Hamazkayin, in 1941 he created the Hamazkayin Theater Association, and they performed many plays.