1. Shahan Natalie was an Armenian writer and political activist who was the principal organizer of Operation Nemesis, a campaign of revenge against officials of the former Ottoman Empire who organized the Armenian genocide during World War I Originally a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, he later left the party over disagreements regarding its policy towards Turkey.
Shahan Natalie was born Hagop Der Hagopian on July 14,1884, in the village of Huseinig, in the Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet, known as the Kharberd Vilayet, of the Ottoman Empire.
Shahan Natalie was the only son of a seven-member family, along with four sisters.
Shahan Natalie received his primary education at a local Armenian school.
Shahan Natalie was later reunited with the surviving members of his family.
Shahan Natalie found his mother mourning over his father's lifeless body, which they buried together.
Shahan Natalie studied for a year at the Euphrates College in Kharberd.
Shahan Natalie adopted the pen name Shahan in honor of the son of the school's founder and principal, Reteos Berberian.
Shahan Natalie's stay was short-lived as the 1909 Adana massacre drove him into exile in America .
From 1910 to 1912, Shahan Natalie attended Boston University, where he studied English literature, philosophy, and theater as a special student.
Back in the US, Shahan Natalie became active within the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
Shahan Natalie was on the editorial staff of the party's Hairenik newspaper from 1915 to 1917, and was elected to the party's United States Central Committee.
Shahan Natalie became a United States citizen on March 23,1915, and assumed "John Mahy" as his official name in 1923.
Shahan Natalie was appalled when some of the delegates expressed their opposition to this policy.
Shahan Natalie was the primary motivator and planner of this small group.
Shahan Natalie was elected as a new Bureau member, alongside Shavarsh Misakian, Ruben Ter Minasian, and Arshak Jamalian.
Shahan Natalie strove to change the party's pro-Turkish orientation, but failed, due to the trio's opposition.
Shahan Natalie wrote the following about his expulsion from the party: "With Shahan began again that which had begun with Antranig".
Contrary to popular belief, Shahan Natalie did not establish or lead the Bastion movement, because at that time he had returned to America.
Shahan Natalie learned about the movement from reading the Mardgots newspaper and acknowledged this Reconstructionist movement.
Shahan Natalie went to Paris to forestall the breakup of the movement.
Shahan Natalie relocated Amrots to Athens, where it was published from 1936 to 1937.
In 1963, for the first time since the Soviet annexation of Armenia, Shahan Natalie visited his homeland.
Shahan Natalie died at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts on April 19,1983, at the age of 98.
Shahan Natalie was laid to rest in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, later being joined by his wife of 57 years, Angele.