Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch: “Russian and Turkish Armenia”

“In all professions, industries, trade, and public service, Armenians have no rivals, and a weighty field of activity is entirely in their hands.”

Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch (1862–1913) was a British geographer, traveler, Armenologist, and social and political activist. Based on materials collected during his two trips to Armenia (in 1893–94 and in 1898), Lynch wrote the well-known work “Armenia: Travels and Studies” (1901) consisting of two volumes, “The Russian Provinces” and “The Turkish Provinces.”

The work contains valuable information about the history, ethnography, folklore of the Armenian people, as well as about geography, demography, and statistical information of Armenia.

The author showed that the tsarist and Turkish governments pursued a reactionary policy in both halves of Armenia, as well as persecuted the Armenian Church and language.

Lynch showed an interest in the Armenian Question. As a member of the Parliament of England (1906-1910), he criticized the policies of Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray on the Armenian Question and advocated the rights of the Armenian people.

Shortly before his death, Lynch published an “Open Letter” in the English press devoted to a project of Armenian reforms.