Hagop Baronian was an influential Ottoman Armenian writer, satirist, educator, and social figure in the 19th century. Born in Edirne, Paronian is widely acknowledged as the greatest Armenian satirist of all time. Baronian's most famous work was the novel "Honorable Beggars", which parodies the almost beggar-like state of writers and publishers in that period. Baronian was also known for his biting, sarcastic criticisms of leading figures in the Armenian social circles of Istanbul; some of these critical comments appear in his book National Bigshots. Unfortunately, he himself suffered the same fate as the characters in "Honorable Beggars", and died penniless on the streets of Istanbul.