Malkhas

For the Iranian village in Poshtkuh Rural District, Chahardangeh District, Sari County, Mazandaran Province, Iran, known as Mal Khast, Māl Khāst, Malkhas and Mālkhvāst, see Mal Khast

Ardashes Hovsepian (Trabizon, Ottoman Empire, 1877 - Beirut, Lebanon, 1962) better known by the penname Malkhas was a famous Armenian novelist and writer.

Adhering from his young days to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, he immigrated to the United States where he wrote for Hairenik (in Armenian Հայրենիք) daily in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. In 1900 he returned to Turkey as an ARF activist, and had part in the Sassoun uprising. In 1908, he was established in Trabzon, where he founded the ARF publication Khariskh (in Armenian Խարիսխ). Moving to Armenia, he took part in the independence movement and was elected as a Member of Parliament during the First Republic of Armenia. After the February 1921 events, he found refuge in Persia before moving again to the Unitd States where he contributed regularly to Hairenik Monthly. Very notably, he published the novel Zartonk (in Armenian Զարթօնք) about the Armenian revolutionary movements in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. HE also published his autobiography, Abrumner (Armenian Ապրումներ).

In 1962, he had been invited to Beirut, Lebanon for a series of cultural events. Suffering a heart attack, he died in Beirut. He was 85.