Arsen Shahmazyan

Arsen Shahmazyan (Armenian: Արսեն Շահմազյան) was an Armenian art teacher, politician and military leader who was involved greatly in Armenian politics during the First Republic of Armenia, in which he held high positions in the Armenian parliament and was of significant importance for the Syunik region, where he led an series of battles and smaller skirmishes against the Azerbaijani army.[1][2]

Arsen Poghosi Shahmazyan
BornAkhalkalaki, Russian Empire
DiedSiberia
AllegianceArmenia Republic of Armenia
Years of service1918-1920
RankGovernor of Syunik
Battles/warsArmenian–Azerbaijani War Red Army invasion of Armenia

Biography

Arsen Shamazyan was born in the city of Akhalkalaki, modern day Tbilisi in the family of Poghos Shahmazyan. He was a tsarist political prisoner in the framework of the great ARF trial. He was a captain and an art teacher at the Nersisyan school, then in 1918 he became a member of the parliament of the First Republic of Armenia, and in 1919 he was appointed the governor of Syunik by Prime Minister Hovhannes Kajaznuni.[3][4]

Gaspar Gasparyan, the commander of one of the Syunik detachments, later wrote:

If Syunik is called Armenia today, it is mainly thanks to Arsen Shahmazyan. Arsen Shahmazyan laid the foundation stone of Armenian Syunik, and after him Garegin Nzhdeh built the building of Armenian Syunik. Future generations, who will live in free Armenia, will erect the statues of Arsen and Nzhdeh in the city of Goris as unforgettable memories of our history. - Gaspar Gasparyan

In 1920, he had the rank of Colonel and served as Deputy Minister of Communications. After Sovietization, he was persecuted and arrested by the Bolsheviks, exiled to Siberia, where he disappeared.

References
  1. Hovannisian, Richard G (1971). The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918-1919. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0520019843.
  2. Avetisyan, Vigen (2020-08-23). "Arsen Shahmazyan – Governor And Defender Of Syunik In 1919". Art-A-Tsolum. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  3. Mediamax. "Հայերը հետ են մղում Ադրբեջանի գրոհը Զանգեզուրի վրա". Republic.Mediamax.am (in Armenian). Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  4. Avetisyan, Vigen (2020-05-25). "Арсен Шахмазян - Губернатор Сюника в 1919 году". Вне Строк. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
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