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Andranik Toros Ozanian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Andranik Ozanian Անդրանիկ Օզանյան |
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Governor of Western Armenia
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| In office March 1918 – April 1918 |
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| Vice President(s) | Drastamat Kanayan |
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| Born | February 25, 1865 Şebinkarahisar, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | August 31, 1927 Chico, California, USA |
| Nationality | Armenian |
Andranik Toros Ozanian, Zoravar Andranik, (Armenian: Անդրանիկ Թորոսի Օզանյան , Զորավար Անդրանիկ) (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian general, political and public activist and freedom fighter, greatly admired as a national hero.
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Andranik Ozanian was born in the church quarter of Şebinkarahisar, Ottoman Armenia (present-day Giresun Province, Turkey). His mother died when he was one year old, so his elder sister Nazeli took care of him. Andranik finished the local Musheghian school and became an apprentice in his father's carpentry shop.
After losing his wife and son at an early age, Andranik joined the Armenian freedom movement in the Ottoman Empire, and participated in various political parties, including Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He met the military commander Aghpyur Serob and joined his fedayeen. After the death of Serob (1899) he became the common leader of Armenian fedayee groups of Vaspurakan and Sassoun[1] (Western Armenia). The most famous battles of Andranik and his fedayees in that period were the guerilla battles of Arakelots (St Apostols) Monastery of Mush (1901) and the Second Sasun Resistance (1904). Then he went to Europe and published his "Military instructions" book in Geneva in 1906.
Andranik participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, within the Bulgarian army, alongside general Garegin Njdeh as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops of 1912-1913. Bulgarian authorities honored him by the "Cross of Bravery"[2].
Leon Trotsky in his correspondence from a Balkan battlefield wrote about Andranik:
"At the head of the Armenian volunteer troop formed in Sofia stood Andranik, a hero of song and legend. He is of middle height, wears a peaked cap and high boots, is lean, with greying hair and wrinkles, fierce moustaches and a shaved chin, and has the air of a man who, after an over-long historical interval has found himself once more."[3]
During World War I, he participated in the Caucasus Campaign and was appointed as general of the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian army. He participated in 20 different offensives where he gained fame due to his courage and the tactics he employed to defeat the opposing forces.
He was the commanding officer of the Armenian volunteer units, which helped the Van Resistance take control of the Van on May 6, 1915. He helped re-capture the city from Ottoman forces during the Battle of Van. He was also the commander of the battalion that took the city of Bitlis (see: Battle of Bitlis) from the Ottoman forces that was under control of Mustafa Kemal. Between March 1918 - April 1918, he was the governor of the Administration for Western Armenia (The Armenian provisional government (see: Western) of a progressive autonomous region[4] that initially set up around Lake Van).
His military leadership was instrumental in allowing the Armenian population of Van to escape the Ottoman Army and flee to Eastern Armenia, then controlled by Russia. The territory later became the Democratic Republic of Armenia.
After the formation of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA), he organized and fought alongside volunteer units to combat the Ottoman army. Andranik was leading his army in combat against the Ottomans during the signing of the Treaty of Batum, and refused to accept the borders stated by the treaty. His activities were concentrated at the link between the Ottoman Empire and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at Karabakh, Zanghezur and Nakhichevan. Ozanian struck back at the Ottoman Fronts, Army of Islam.
Andranik tried several times to seize Shusha. Just before the Armistice of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shushi, to control the main city of Karabakh. In January 1919 Armenian troops advancing, the British forces (Lionel Dunsterville) ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him assurances that a favorable treaty would be reached at the Paris Peace Conference, of 1919.
In 1919 he left Armenia amid political turmoil and power struggles and went into exile in Fresno, California, United States.
"When Antranik visited America, all the Armenians, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, gave him an enthusiastic reception. Americans were amazed and they asked: "Who is this man?". "He is the George Washington of Armenians", was the answer everywhere, and the Americans honored him by letting him sit on George Washington's chair, which was an unprecedented honor. In Paris the president of the French Republic, Poincaré' also paid him tribute by giving a reception in honor of him". Dr. Hermine Varjabedian[5]
Andranik Ozanian lived in Fresno for 5 years [6] until his death on August 31, 1927 at the age of 62. His remains were originally to be buried in Armenia but Communist officials refused entry. His remains were then moved to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris in 1928, and eventually returned to Armenia in 2000, where he was buried at the Yerablur military cemetery.
- General Andranik (Zoravar Andranik), (1989 18min. 35mm.Director Levon Mkrtchyan ).
- ^ General Andranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement, by Dr Antranig Chalabian, Michigan, 1988 ISBN:0962274119
- ^ (in Russian) Андраник Озанян: Документы и материалы, Ереван, 1991.
- ^ (in Russian) Л.Д.Троцкий Балканы и балканская война: Андраник и его отряд // "Киевская Мысль" N 197, 19 июля 1913 г.
- ^ The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: edited by Richard G Hovannisian
- ^ The Great 4: Mesrob, Komidas, Antranik, Toramanian, by Dr. Hermine Varjabedian, Beirut, 1969, p. 53
- ^ http://www.haydjampa.org/Dossiers/Antranig/Antranigiguiank/p1.htm Andranik's Biography in Haydjampa.org (in Armenian)