| Monument Zoravar Andranik
Andranik Ozanian (Zoravar Andranik) (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian general, political and public activist and freedom fighter, greatly admired as a national hero.
Andranik joined the Armenian freedom movement in the Ottoman Empire, and participated in various political parties, including Armenian Revolutionary Federation. In 1899 he became the common leader of Armenian fedayee groups of Vaspurakan and Sassoun (Western Armenia). All of Andranik's lieutenants accepted that their leader possessed undisputed authority and superiority in military matters and that he was "primus inter pares" (the first among equals). Such was the popularity Andranik earned among the men he led that they came to refer to him always by his first name - even formally, when he later held a general's rank in the Imperial Russian Army.
The most famous battles of Andranik and his fedayees in that period were the guerrilla 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.
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. The Russian authorities made Andranik a Major General in 1918 and decorated him six times for gallantry.
He was the commanding officer of the Armenian volunteer units, which helped the Van Resistance take control of the Van on May 6, 1915.
In 1919 he left Armenia amid political turmoil and power struggles and went into exile in Fresno, California, United States. Andranik Ozanian lived in Fresno for 5 years until his death on August 31, 1927 at the age of 62. His remains were moved to Armenia in 2000, where he was buried at the Yerablur military cemetery.
| |
