Author: Kanayan Tamar

WORKING GROUP TO INCREASE DISCIPLINE IN ARMENIA’S ARMED FORCES

Tert.am
21:17 ~U 10.10.11

Armenia’s Defense Ministry, Prosecutor Generals’ Office and Office of
Human Rights Defender are creating a working group that will oversee
the legislation regulating the activities in the Armed Forces and
will design amendments upon necessity.

The activities of the working group are aimed at increasing discipline
in the Armed Forces, reducing the crime rate, crime prevention and
creating an environment of high level of responsibility.

The agreement was reached between Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan,
Military Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan and Karen Andreasyan,
who also expressed willingness to provide the working group with
expertise assistance.

SYNOPSYS ARMENIA CONTINUES TRADITION OF GOOD CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP BY PLANTING HUNDREDS OF TREES IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
10.10.2011

YEREVAN, Armenia, October 09, 2011- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), a
world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and
manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announcedthat,
as part of its seventh annual Synopsys Armenia tree planting community
event, approximately 600 employees of Synopsys Armenia CJSC, members
of their families and students of the Synopsys Armenia Educational
Department (SAED) planted more than 600 thuya evergreen trees in the
area surrounding the European Regional Educational Academy and the
Chess Academy of Armenia in Yerevan. Under the slogan “one tree for
each employee,” Synopsys Armenia has planted more than 3,000 trees
in seven years.

The annual event was a coordinated outreach effort of the Synopsys
Community Volunteer Program and was sponsored by the Synopsys for
Armenia Charitable Foundation. The Armenia Tree Project Charitable
Foundation (ATP) partnered with Synopsys by providing evergreen
saplings from its Karin and Khachpar nurseries. ATP also prepared
the planting plots and will monitor the planted trees as they grow.

Adults and children actively engaged in the community activity with
guidance from trained volunteers. Participants included Dr. Chi-Foon
Chan, Synopsys president and chief operating officer; Rich Goldman,
Synopsys Armenia CEO and Synopsys VP of Corporate Marketing &
Strategic Alliances; Hovik Musayelyan, Synopsys Armenia director;
Jeff Masarjian, ATP executive director; Mher Sadoyan, ATP Yerevan
director; and other Synopsys Armenia and ATP staff and executives.

Since Synopsys was first established in Armenia in November 2004, it
has strived to be a good corporate citizen. The company has contributed
to the progress of Armenian society by helping to improve the country’s
educational system and by implementing other assistance programs. In
2010 the U.S. Department of State recognized Synopsys in Armenia among
12 finalists worldwide for the U.S. Secretary of State’s prestigious
Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE). ACE finalists are international
business leaders who recognize the vital role that U.S.

businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens. Synopsys was
nominated for it’s “promotion of U.S. and foreign investors by
showcasing Armenia as a potential informational technology (IT) hub;
collaboration with universities on IT training programs; and reduction
of pollution levels by planting hundreds of trees to counter recent
deforestation.”

“As a global company, Synopsys recognizes the responsibilities that
U.S. businesses have abroad. We were humbled to be among the 12 U.S.

companies selected by the U.S. Department of State for ourcorporate
citizenship, innovation and exemplary business practices in Armenia,”
said Dr. Chan. “We continue to partner with and give back to the
local communityby voluntarily planting hundreds of trees in Yerevan
and contributing to the prosperity of Armenia.”

“Synopsys employees view tree planting as a way to give back to our
community by reducing air pollution and helping to renew Yerevan’s
commitment to a healthy environment,” said Mr. Goldman. “It’s
heartening to see our employees plant trees with their families. It
helps cultivate a lasting culture of taking care of the environment
in which we live and work.”

“On behalf of ATP, I sincerely thank Dr. Chi-Foon Chan and the
employees of Synopsys for their remarkable leadership in demonstrating
corporate social responsibility in Armenia. As part of our ongoing
collaboration, more than 600 participants planted trees and greenery
at the Chess Academy, honoring Armenia as World Chess Champions of
2011,” said Mr. Masarjian. “In addition, we planted trees together at
the European Academy to mark its 10 year anniversary celebration! I
cannot think of a more fitting tribute to these institutions that
are committed to promoting a healthy environment for Armenia’s future.”

“I appreciate the joint tree planting with Synopsys as we beautify our
city,” said Prof. Andranik Avetisyan, European Regional Educational
Academy rector. “It is a great honor to share in this wonderful
initiative with Synopsys management and staff. We will eagerly take
care of the planted trees as they will add to the architectural
richness and history of the Academy. I express my deep gratitude
for this thoughtful gift to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our
beloved Academy.”

“The trees represent lasting friendship between Synopsys and the
Chess Academy,” said Smbat Lputian, Chess Academy of Armenia founder
and president. “It is with great honor that we accept the trees as
a dedication to Armenia winning the 2011 World Team Chess Championship.

Synopsys’ outstanding activities and achievements, coupled with their
social values and community engagements, foster collaboration and
goodwill in our country. Thank you to Synopsys for your friendship
and community leadership!”

“Synopsys consistently promotes the importance of corporate social
responsibility. Planting trees has become an annual tradition for
Synopsys Armenia, with employees planting more than 400 trees every
year since 2005,” said Mr. Musayelyan. “Synopsys planted trees in
Viasphere Technopark in 2005, Victory Park in 2006, Tsitsernakaberd
Park in 2007, on a hillside of Nor Nork district of Yerevan in 2008,
in the central park of Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia district (near
the recently built Holy Trinity Church) in 2009, and along one of
the main alleys leading to the Genocide Museum and in the public park
that occupies the hill next to the PYUNIC disabled people organization
in 2010.”

“I’ve been with Synopsys for five years and I can say that tree
planting is one of the most important events of Synopsys Week in
Armenia,” said Anna Asatryan, a previous SAED student and now a
Synopsys Armenia employee. “This tradition is an excellent example
of how an IT company can be a good corporate citizen. In addition,
it’s a great opportunity for employees to spend the weekend together
with their families outdoors taking care of the environment in which
we live and build our future.”

About Armenia Tree Project (ATP Charitable Foundation)

Armenia Tree Project (ATP Charitable Foundation), a non-profit
program based in Watertown and Yerevan, conducts vitally important
environmental projects in Armenia’s impoverished and deforested zones
and seeks support in advancing its reforestation mission. Since 1994,
ATP has made enormous strides in combating desertification in the
biologically diverse but threatened Caucasus region. Armenia Tree
Project has planted and restored more than 3,500,000 trees at over
800 sites around the country. ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian
people in using trees to improve their standard of living and protect
the environment, guided by the need to promote self-sufficiency, aid
those with the fewest resources first, and conserve the indigenous
ecosystem. ATP’s three major programs are tree planting, environmental
education, and sustainable development initiatives.

Contacts: ATP Charitable Foundation, ARMENIA TREE PROJECT,
57/5 Arshakunyats Ave., Yerevan 0026, Armenia. Tel.: (374 10)
447401/447402. Tel/Fax: (374 10) 447726. Website:

About the Synopsys for Armenia Charitable Foundation

The Synopsys for Armenia Charitable Foundation was established in
July of 2005. It supports Synopsys’ R&D operations in Armenia through
a number of educational and social initiatives. Its activities are
divided into two sections: educational and social. The Foundation’s
educational programs include support to all Synopsys educational
programs for ongoing professional engineering education, conducted
in cooperation with major Armenia universities. The Foundation also
funds the RA Presidential Awards for the best students in the IT
sector and sponsors various IT-related contests targeting students
and young professionals. The Foundation’s social activities primarily
assist the local communities.

About Synopsys, Inc. and Synopsys Armenia CJSC

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) fuels innovation in the global electronics
market with software, systems, semiconductor IP and services that
address key design, verification and manufacturing challenges. A
leader in electronic design automation (EDA), Synopsys, established
a presence in Armenia in 2004 as Synopsys Armenia closed joint
stock company (CJSC). Synopsys Armenia CJSC provides R&D and product
support in EDA, design for manufacturing (DFM) and the development of
semiconductor intellectual property (IP). Employing several hundred
qualified Armenian engineers, Synopsys is one of largest IT employers
in Armenia. To encourage the highest levels of accomplishment for
students in IT, the company sponsors awards and competitions such
as the Annual Educational Awards of the Republic of Armenia (RA)
President, and the Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad
of Armenia. Synopsys Armenia’s investment in the community reaches
well beyond IT. In 2010, Synopsys in Armenia was recognized as one
of 12 finalists for the U.S. Secretary of State’s annual Award
for Corporate Excellence (ACE), citing the company’s technology
and financial leadership as well as its charity work and volunteer
activities. Synopsys Armenia CJSC is located in Yerevan. Synopsys,
Inc. is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has
approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe,
Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys, Inc. and Synopsys Armenia
online at and

NICOLAS SARKOZY’S STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: ANKARA RETALIATES

Tert.am
17:17 ~U 10.10.11

Ankara has responded to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s statements
on the Armenian Genocide made during his visit to Armenia.

Prof. Kemal Cicek from the Turkish Historical Society published a
document from the US National Archives. The document is evidence of
violence French officers committed against Armenians in 1920s.

The document, published by means of Haberturk, is Cilician Armenians’
letter of complaint to the then US president Woodrow Wilson.

Mushegh Serobian, a clergyman from Izmir, sent that letter to the
American Committee for Armenian Independence. He complained about
the anti-Armenian policy France was pursuing in Adana.

The document, which dates back to Oct. 4, 1920, reads that, after
Turkey signed the Treaty of Sevres, the French army started committing
violence against Armenians. They were hindering the Armenian National
Committee’s activities. Over 100,000 Armenians were exiled from Adana
to ensure the local Turkish population’s growth. The rest 14,000
Armenians were pressured into leaving. When Armenians refused, French
soldiers threatened them. However, the Armenian National Committee
prevented Armenian massacres.

Prof. Cicek says: “The report mentions Armenians struggling against
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s troops together with the French. The French
arrived in Cilicia to establish an Armenian kingdom. Later, however,
the French troops aimed their guns at Armenians.

“This document is striking evidence of how Armenians complained about
the French. Throughout history France has made use of Armenians in its
own interests, and the present-day situation is not at all different.”

MILITARY AND POLITICAL COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF CSTO IS DEEPENING, ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN SAYS
Anna Nazaryan

“Radiolur”
10.10.2011 17:32

The interdepartmental committee coordinating the implementation of
arrangements envisaged within the framework of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization held a sitting today chaired by Secretary of the
National Security Council of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan.

“Rather serious events have taken place within CSTO framework in
the past quarter. First of all it is the non-official summit of the
Heads of State in Kazakhstan, during which it was decided to implement
amendments in the CSTO charter envisaging closer military and political
cooperation between the member states,” Arthur Baghdasaryan said.

“Another important thing is that rapid-reaction forces will be created
within the framework of the CSTO, which can be used in case of threat
to any of the member states,” the Secretary of the National Security
Council declared.

According to Arthur Baghdasaryan, the third important thing is that
a 1 000-member peacekeeping contingent will be established.

Sarkozy sought to win Armenians’ sympathy ahead of presidential race – Komersant
13:03 – 08.10.11

(Photocredit A1plus)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Yerevan can be
characterized as nothing more than an attempt to gain the
French-Armenians’ sympathy ahead of the presidential election in
France, a Russian analyst has said.

In an interview with the Komersant newspaper, Sergei Strokan spoke of
Sarkozy’s diminishing popularity in France, considering his visit to
Yerevan an important part of his South Caucasus tour.

“Nicolas Sarkozy, whose reputation has dropped to 26% and who is going
to struggle for re-election in next year’s presidential campaign,
began a tour to the South Caucasus, with the visit to Yerevan being a
key element of his initiative. And the most important thing for him
was to win the votes of the Armenian Diaspora,” he said, adding that
the French leader’s recent statement on the Armenia genocide was
mostly targeted to the electorate in his country, rather than Armenia
and Turkey per se.

As for the Turkish authorities criticism over the statement, the
expert noted that Sarkozy urges Turkey to do something that his
country has not implemented so far.

“As a matter of fact, the topic of the Armenian Genocide is very
complicated and ambiguous,” Strokan said, emphasizing that France has
not fully acknowledged the Genocide. “The lower house of the French
parliament has recognized the fact of the Genocide, but the upper
house has not done so. So Sarkozy is calling on Turkey to do something
his country has not fully implemented so far.”

Asked whether Sarkozy managed to gain the sympathy of Yerevan, he
said: “He did win the sympathy of Yerevan but let me note that his
principal target was the voter. But the latter’s response will be
moderate as the French electorate is sensible enough to be cheated
easily.”

Tert.am

Western Armenian is in crisis – Aram I
11:39 – 08.10.11

Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I finds that the Western
Armenian language is facing a serious crisis.

Speaking to the USA Armenian Life, the Catholicos expressed concerns
that the language may become extinct if no appropriate measures are
taken to preserve it. He addressed a recent conference dedicated to
Western Armenian, dwelling on the practical steps proposed as measures
towards preventing the loss of the language.

“As a practical step, the conference proposed the formation of a
Western Armenian Language Preservation Council through the initiative
of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, with the
participation of individuals knowledgeable in Armenian studies who can
further the cause. We will conduct consultations on the makeup of the
Council after the completion of our Pontifical Visit to the Prelacy of
Western United States,” he said, stressing the importance of not
restricting the efforts towards the preservation of Western Armenian
to conferences.

“Organizing conferences and proposing ideas are not enough. It is
essential that we implement the ideas and execute the developed plans
within our communities. It is in this area that we fail. The
preservation of Western Armenian language must be carried out on local
levels – within the churches, schools, homes, and clubs. Therefore our
work has to be collective and an awareness of responsibility
shouldered by all,” the catholicos added.

Tert.am

TURQUIE
Génocide arménien : Sarkozy devrait cesser de jouer les historiens
(ministre turc)

Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy ferait mieux de s’occuper des
problèmes des Français plutôt que de jouer les historiens sur la
question du génocide arménien, a estimé vendredi le ministre turc aux
Affaires européennes Egemen Bagis, réagissant à des déclarations de M.
Sarkozy.

`Il serait mieux, pour la sérénité en France, en Europe et dans le
monde que M. Sarkozy abandonne le rôle de l’historien et se creuse un
peu la tête pour sortir son pays du gouffre économique dans lequel il
se trouve et produise des projets pour l’avenir de l’Union
européenne`, a déclaré M. Bagis, cité par l’agence de presse Anatolie,
lors d’une visite à Sarajevo.

`Notre mission, en tant qu’hommes politiques, n’est pas de définir le
passé ou les événements du passé. C’est de définir l’avenir`, a
insisté le ministre, avant d’accuser le président français
d’`exploitation à l’approche de l’élection` présidentielle française,
de la thématique arménienne.

`Sarkozy a probablement adopté ce type d’approche après avoir été
effrayé par les derniers sondages politiques en France`, a-t-il
commenté.

Le chef de la diplomatie turque Ahmet Davutoglu a lui aussi dénoncé
`l’opportunisme politique` de `propos qui s’inscrivent totalement dans
le contexte électoral en France`.

`Ceux qui disent à la Turquie de se réconcilier avec son passé doivent
d’abord se regarder dans un miroir`, a-t-il asséné, faisant référence
au passé colonial de la France.

En visite à Erevan jeudi et vendredi, M. Sarkozy a appelé Ankara à une
`reconnaissance du génocide` dans un délai `assez bref`, avant la fin
de son mandat en mai 2012, en évoquant les massacres ottomans
perpétrés en 1915 et 1916 en Turquie, qui ont fait plusieurs centaines
de milliers de morts.

La Turquie reconnaît que 300.000 à 500.000 personnes ont péri lors de
cette période, mais, selon elle, elles n’ont pas été victimes d’une
campagne d’extermination mais du chaos des dernières années de
l’Empire ottoman.

Pour les Arméniens, il s’agit d’un `génocide` qui a fait plus d’un
million et demi de morts.

Présent à Ankara vendredi pour la signature d’un accord de coopération
sécuritaire, le ministre français de l’Intérieur Claude Guéant a
répondu aux questions de journalistes en les appelant à ne pas
surinterpréter les propos de son président.

`Il convient de s’en tenir strictement aux propos du président de la
République sans les interpréter`, a dit M. Guéant, affirmant que M.
Sarkozy `n’a pas évoqué de délai` pour qu’Ankara reconnaisse le
`génocide` arménien.

Interrogé sur le point de savoir comment réagirait la France si la
Turquie décidait de reconnaître `le génocide des Algériens`, M. Guéant
à répondu : `Le président de la République française est allé en
Algérie, il a eu des propos extrêmement forts sur ce moment douloureux
de notre passé entre l’Algérie et la France. Il a tourné la page`.

Avant son élection en 2007, le candidat Sarkozy avait promis aux
représentants de la forte communauté arménienne de France, estimée à
un demi-million de personnes, de soutenir le vote d’un texte de loi
spécifique réprimant la négation du génocide de 1915.

Mais ce texte a été enterré en mai faute d’une majorité au Sénat
(chambre haute) et surtout du soutien du gouvernement de Nicolas
Sarkozy, suscitant l’amertume des Arméniens de France et de leurs
partisans. L’élection présidentielle est prévue en France en avril et
mai.

samedi 8 octobre 2011,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

atlasinfo.fr , France
7 oct 2011

Génocide arménien : pour la Turquie, Sarkozy devrait balayer devant sa porte

Vendredi 7 Octobre 2011 modifié le Vendredi 7 Octobre 2011 – 23:43

Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy, en déplacement dans le Caucase,
a fait escale en Arménie aujourd’hui. Arrivé à Erevan, il s’est rendu
au mémorial du génocide arménien de 1915 avec le président Serge
Sarkissian. Il a appelé la Turquie à “revisiter son histoire” et à
admettre sa réalité. En 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy avait promis à la
communauté arménienne de France, environ 500.000 personnes, de faire
voter une loi réprimant la négation du génocide arménien. Le texte n’a
jamais été voté faute d’une majorité au Sénat et du soutien du
gouvernement.

La contre-attaque n’a pas traîné. Ahmed Davutoglu, le ministre des
Affaires étrangères, suggère à Paris de commencer par balayer devant
sa porte. “Ceux qui ne sont pas capables d’affronter leur propre
histoire parce qu’ils ont mené une politique colonialiste pendant des
siècles, parce qu’ils traitent leurs étrangers comme des citoyens de
seconde zone, n’ont pas à donner une leçon d’histoire à la Turquie.”

Erevan considère qu’un million et demi d’Arméniens sont morts en 1915,
décimés par l’armée ottomane. La reconnaissance de ce massacre par
Ankara était l’une des promesses de campagne du candidat Sarkozy en
2007. Un débat qui n’a pas avancé depuis.

Vendredi 7 Octobre 2011 – 19:12

Le Parisien, France
7 oct 2011

Arménie : la volte-face de Sarkozy

De notre envoyée spéciale à Erevan, Nathalie Schuck | Publié le
07.10.2011, 10h48 | Mise à jour : 11h01

Voilà qui lui aura peut-être remonté le moral à bientôt six mois d’une
présidentielle qui s’annonce très compliquée pour lui. Nicolas Sarkozy
est reparti ce vendredi matin d’Arménie avec, dans la tête, l’air de
«For me, Formidable» du grand Charles Aznavour, qu’a entonné pour lui
une chorale d’enfants.

Lors de sa visite à Erevan, le président n’a pas perdu 2012 de vue.
Pas question de laisser s’échapper les quelque 500 000 électeurs
d’origine arménienne vivant en France! Avant son élection, il leur
avait fait une promesse qui leur était allée droit au coeur : faire
voter définitivement la loi pénalisant la négation du génocide
arménien perpétré en 1915 et 1916 par le régime turc ottoman, qui fit,
selon Erevan, plus d’un million et demi de morts. Des massacres
toujours niés par la Turquie et que la France a reconnus en 2001 comme
«génocide». Mais voilà : Sarkozy élu, sa promesse s’est perdue dans
les sables…

Le texte réprimant le fait de nier ce génocide s’est ensablé au Sénat
en mai, faute de soutien de l’Elysée. Un conseiller du président
aurait même assuré aux autorités turques, dès fin mai 2007, que cette
loi «mourrait» au Sénat, selon un télégramme diplomatique révélé par
Wikileaks. Or, François Hollande, possible adversaire de Sarkozy, a
appelé ces derniers jours à faire voter ce texte avant les élections,
en profitant du basculement à gauche du Sénat.

Le «devoir de réserve» d’Aznavour

Sarkozy a donc profité de sa visite arménienne pour rectifier le tir.
Mettant la pression sur la Turquie, il l’a invitée à «regarder son
histoire en face» en reconnaissant enfin le génocide arménien. Une
invitation assortie d’une menace explicite : si Ankara n’accomplissait
pas ce «geste de paix» rapidement, il relancerait le processus
législatif au Parlement et ferait voter la loi d’ici la fin de son
mandat en mai. «Le temps n’est pas infini : 1915-2011, il me semble
que pour la réflexion, c’est suffisant!», a-t-il lancé à Ankara, en
précisant qu’il prendrait sa décision «dans un délai assez bref», sans
doute autour de la fin de l’année.

Dans l’avion qui l’emmenait en Arménie jeudi, le président, qui
s’oppose toujours à l’entrée d’Ankara dans l’Union européenne, avait
confié à ses invités : «J’ai fait mon deuil de bonnes relations avec
la Turquie.»

Présent vendredi à ses côtés à Erevan après avoir tenu la veille son
dernier concert à l’Olympia, Aznavour s’est gardé de tout commentaire
sur cette volte-face présidentielle, invoquant un «devoir de réserve».
Pas dupe, le chanteur, porte-drapeau des Arméniens de France, ne veut
pas être récupéré politiquement: «Personne ne saura pour qui j’ai voté
(en 2012, NDLR), comme d’habitude!» A bon entendeur…
LeParisien.fr

Oct 7 2011

The First Lesbian Science Fiction Novel, Published in 1906

Like most genres of popular literature, science fiction has been slow
to present lesbians in a positive light. During the late 19th century
and early 20th century, lesbians were entirely unrepresented in
science fiction, with homosexuality an act only depraved men engaged
in. Which makes Gregory Casparian’s The Anglo-American Alliance. A
Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast of the Future (1906), the first
lesbian science fiction novel, all the more notable.
Casparian (1855-1947) was a Turkish Armenian who emigrated to the
United States in 1877 after making himself unwelcome in Turkey as an
officer in the Armenian army. He settled in New York and became an
artist, painter, and photoengraver for an engineering firm. Little
else can be found about him, but he must have been an interesting and
thoughtful man, for The Anglo-American Alliance, his only book, is
remarkably progressive sexually.

The Anglo-American Alliance, set in the future of 1960, has two plots.
The first is a detailed history of a 20th century in which the United
States and the United Kingdom are the major powers on Earth,
colonialism is still in force (Great Britain having colonized central
Africa in the 1920s), and technology has advanced in a limited
fashion: prenatal sex determination and suspended animation are now
possible, a germicide for laziness has been developed, benefitting
“the negroes of the Southern States” [sic], and an enormous telescope
has discovered “vegetation and moving objects” on Mars and Venus. A
Persian astronomer, Abou Shimshek, has found an “ice lens” which
allowed him to discover a new planet on which live a race of
telepathic, furred, electric-wheel-riding aliens.

Full size The second is the romance between Aurora Cunningham, the
daughter of Great Britain’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs,” and
Margaret MacDonald, the daughter of an American senator. Aurora is
beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed, gentle, and has a speech impediment: “a
typical English maiden.” Margaret is Aurora’s “very antithesis. She
was somewhat taller, with sparkling black eyes and raven hair, of
imposing dignity and carriage, but withal the equal of Aurora in the
matter of natural gifts and accomplishments. She had, moreover, a
captivating frivolity and aggressiveness which almost bordered on
masculinity.” And she’s good at the kinds sports young women are fond
of, which sometimes involve donning armor.

The two meet at the Diana Young Ladies’ Seminary in Cornwall and fall
immediately in love: “they were drawn to each other with a mysterious
sympathy which attracted the attention of outsiders and furnished
ample excuse for comment. Directly after their first meeting they had
become inseparable companions and confidants.” But as time passed this
strange attachment grew so marked and its manifestations so alarmingly
flagrant that they themselves became aware of its dangerous
consequences.

Full size They realized that if they gave free license to indiscreet
emotional demonstrations class room or in public, not only would their
actions not be tolerated by the College faculty and cause their
expulsion from the Seminary, but they would also be subjected to
unendurable ostracism by the rest of the students. But still worse was
the confronting fact that they would undoubtedly become the topic of
unpleasant notoriety through the publicity given by the sensational
press. They had therefore the good judgment to pledge themselves to
control their emotions in the presence of class, and to exercise
wide-awake circumspection in their behavior in public and towards the
opposite sex.

Casparian further describes how Aurora and Margaret were the only
women in the Seminary who “refrained from making an alliance” with any
of the “gallant swains from the Academy.”

Now, passionate pairings among women were not unknown when Casparian
wrote An Anglo-American Alliance. Many Victorian women, both American
and English, formed “romantic friendships” or “passionate
friendships,” and a number of those became “Boston marriages,” in
which both women lived together, financially independent, and shared a
house. Such pairings were very occasionally represented in
late-Victorian fiction, though any lesbianism was absent or kept only
as a covert subtext. But Casparian went far beyond that.

Aurora and Margaret are on the verge of graduating from the Seminary,
which will mean their separation, a prospect which both loathes. So
they make “a solemn compact, bound by an inviolable oath, not to make
any alliance with any suitor whatever and to remain united to each
other in souls until death should them part.” Aurora goes further, and
in a “fatuous ardor of love” writes “an impromptu poem of fealty,
entitled `Wilt Thou Remember Thy Vow?’ It revealed the intensity of
their emotions, their utter subjugation and mutual abandonment of will
and desire each to the other….”

Full size Aurora returns home after graduation, and Margaret faints
after she leaves. She is brought to the famous Hindu “Vivisectionist
and Re-Incarnator” Dr. Hyder Ben Raaba, who discovers why Margaret is
so distraught, and helps her recover. A few months later, after
Margaret has inherited her dead father’s wealth, she receives a card
from Dr. Ben Raaba, asking after her health. Margaret then has a
brilliant idea, which Dr. Ben Raaba agrees to: a “mental and physical
metamorphosis” which transforms Margaret into a man. Margaret, now
“Spencer Hamilton,” becomes a famous musician, woos and wins Aurora,
and the pair live happily ever after.

An Anglo-Indian Alliance would have been better (and extraordinarily
progressive) had Aurora and Margaret lived happily ever after as
women, it must be admitted. Nonetheless, An Anglo-Indian Alliance is
the first science fiction novel with a pair of lesbian lovers as
heroines, one of whom becomes science fiction’s first transgender
hero.

All images taken from the original novel, which is available for free
download from Google Books.