Roupen DerMinassian was born in Akhalkalak in 1882. He was an activist in the national liberation movement of Armenia in the early 1900s. Roupen was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He studied at Echmiadzin's Kevorkian School, Moscow's Lazarian School, and completed his education at the University in Geneva. In 1903, Roupen was active in the Kars region and a year later joined Nigol Touman's group to fight the Kurds. From 1906-1908, he fought with Kevork Chavoush in Daron and participated in the famous battle of Souloukh. After the Young Turk revolution, Roupen left Daron and took part in the 5th and 7th World Congress of the ARF. In 1915 he returned and led the self-defense of Sassoon. Three years later, Roupen was elected to the Armenian Parliament and dealt mainly with assisting the Armenian refugees pouring in from western Armenia. He also served as the first Armenian Republic's minister of defense. After the sovietization of Armenia, Roupen left Armenia by way of Iran and stayed in France until 1933. From 1933-1942 he lived in Cairo, 1942-1944 Palestine, 1944-1947 Beirut, and eventually returned to France where he died in 1951. Roupen is the author of a number of works; the most popular of which is called "The memoirs of an Armenian revolutionary".