After the Sovietization of Armenia, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) became the only diaspora organization that was permitted to operate within the
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The permission was granted to the AGBU in 1923. In 1926, during the
Philadelphia meeting of the
United States branches of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), a decision was taken to fund the construction of a new residential settlement in the
Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia, in honor of the founder of AGBU; the Armenian benefactor
Boghos Nubar. The main goal of the project was directed towards the repatriation of the Armenian families who survived the
Armenian genocide and dispersed all over the
Middle East and
Europe. For the fulfillment of the project, an amount of US$250,000 was envisaged to raise until April 30, 1931, in order to launch the project in the 25th anniversary of the AGBU organization. US$102,000 was donated from Armenians in
New York City, and US$25,000 was received from
Chicago. However, many of the Armenian wealthy donors became victims of the
Great Depression of 1929. Thus, only US$153,000 was secured by the end of 1929. The Communist government of Armenia has proposed many locations for the initiative, including
Yeghvard,
Sardarapat and
Metsamor. Finally, the location of the settlement was chosen to be at the southeastern outskirts of the capital Yerevan, to the south of
Noragavit neighbourhood.
Boghos Nubar donated US$100,000 for the project, and finally an agreement was settled between the Communist government of Armenia and the AGBU in April–May 1930, for the "construction of Nubarashen residential settlement". Soon after in the same year, the construction process was launched at the south of Yerevan, based on the urban plan designed by architect
Alexander Tamanian. In July 1931, around 100-120 residential buildings were ready to put in service. In 1932, the settlement was officially founded and named
Nubarashen (meaning
town of Nubar). The first residents of the newly founded settlement were repatriated Armenian families from
Greece, followed by genocide survivals from
Bulgaria,
France,
Lebanon and
Syria. Almost 50% of the project was completed by the end of 1936. In summer 1937, around 1,000 repatriated Armenians were living in Nubarashen. In 1938, the settlement was renamed as
Sovetashen (), meaning the
Soviet town. In 1961, the
Ordzhonikidze raion (Орджоникидзевский район) was formed as an administrative district within the city of Yerevan. In 1963,
Sovetashen was given the status of an
urban-type settlement to become part of the
Ordzhonikidze raion. In 1989, the district was renamed back with its original name. With the 1996 administrative division reforms of Armenia, Nubarashen was given the status of a
district within the capital Yerevan. ==Demographics==