[THE EARLIEST ARMENIAN FEMINIST PUBLICATION: THE ARMENIAN WOMEN] Հայ կին: Կիսամսեայ հանդէս / Hay gin. [i.e., Armenian woman]. Edited by Hayganus Mark

MARK, HAYGANUSH (1884-1966).

Hay Gin Printing House, Constantinople, 1929.

In modern brown cloth. Folio. (31,5 x 23 cm). In Armenian. 47 issues in total (2669-3444 pp., b/w reproduced photgraphic ills.). Age-toned on pages, slight chippings on trimmed extremities, sporadic stains, centrefold trace, fragile and deteriorated paper with flaking edges. The page including the cover of the second issue and its verso is missing. Overall, a good volume.

Rare 47 issues (1 January 1927 - 1 December 1928) of the earliest Armenian feminist periodical ran between the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the early Republican Turkish period, by Armenian feminist writer Hayganush Mark (1884-1966), published bimonthly. While it had the longest publication life during the Ottoman Empire, the magazine ended its publication in 1933. The magazine featured feminism, the women's movement, and women's activities, and was mainly addressing Armenian women as it was published in a context supporting the Armenian national movement in its early years. Defining herself as a feminist, Mark also included the articles of various feminists in the magazine. This magazine proved to be the women's magazine with the longest publication life in the history of the Ottoman Empire and Republican Turkey history.

Hay Gin began publication in 1919 under the editorship of Hayganus Mark. Unlike Dzagig, the Armenian magazine she had previously edited, Hay Gin covered topics not only about women but also about men. Initially, it supported the Armenian national movement. However, this stance remained unchanged due to "the occupation of Istanbul by Entente forces, the relative lack of censorship, and the uncertainty of the international political situation." (Ekmekçioglu).

Mark regularly published articles by various feminists in the magazine. Active until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, Hay Gin became the longest-running women's magazine in Armenian history.

With the onset of the Lausanne Peace Conference, the magazine began to "emphasize its unconditional loyalty to Mustafa Kemal". It continued publication until 1933. After its closure, Mark expressed her sorrow, saying, "I feel as if my daughter has died." Following her passing, an article in Yeridasart Hayuhi, a Beirut-based publication, by Isdepan Shahbaz noted that the magazine had ultimately succumbed to its circumstances. Throughout its run, Hay Gin covered topics on feminism, the women’s movement, and women's activities, primarily amplifying the voices of Armenian women.

Hayganush Mark (1884-1966) was an Armenian feminist writer, poet, opinion journalist, prose, and public figure. Of Armenian descent, Hayganush Mark was born in Constantinople in 1884. Her father was Markar Topuzyan, a servant-broker from the province of Van, born in 1850 or 1851 (AR 1266), and her mother was Yebrakse, born in Constantinople in 1853 or 1854 (AR 1269). She adapted the family name "Mark", the short form of "Markar," following the enactment of the Surname Law in Turkey in the year 1934. Her first article was published in Manzûme-i Efkâr, an Armeno-Turkish periodical. Because of this article, she received job offers from periodicals like Pürag, Hanrakidag, Püzantion, and Panaser. She was not even twenty years of age when she was awarded second place in a poetry competition organized by the newspaper Masis. In 1909, she became the head of the Literary Commission of the recently founded "Nationalist Armenian Women's Union". She got ready to open up Armenian schools in the province and to provide education for girls. As a result of these efforts of hers, the number of Armenian schools in Anatolia increased to 32. In 1919, she started to publish the bi-weekly feminist magazine Hay Gin. This time, the difference in her attitude was that not only women but both genders should be involved in the publishing of the periodical. She left her idea of separating men and women. She never gave up independence saying, "If the Armenian Woman magazine will live under a flag, this can only be a womanhood flag". Her periodical continued to appear for another 14 years until 1933 when it was closed down by the Turkish government. It is noted that the paper was forced to close down because it was accused of supporting the "enemies of the Turks" for its support of the Allies during the post-World War I years.

Mark opposed "women becoming male in the name of emancipation". She said that "women must work and achieve their economic freedom", adding "In doing this, there is no need to be prepared to be rude, to destroy". According to her, "love is in the mind". She pointed out that "the education system is prepared from a male perspective” and further stated that "involvement of women in the curriculum preparation stage is imperative". Mark said that "men and women are different and equal", adding "Women must claim their differences for themselves and humanity". (Source: Wikipedia).

As of February 2025, OCLC shows only one copy in the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library of New York University as a microform (1374675378 & 861638163).