Andranik

Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as Andranik (Անդրանիկ), (25 February 1865 – 31 August 1927) was an Armenian military commander and statesman, the most famous fedayi and a key figure of the Armenian national liberation movement. Andranik became active in the Armenian armed struggle against the Ottoman government and Kurdish irregulars in the late 1880s. He joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktustyun) party and along other fedayi, he sought to defend the Armenian peasantry living in their ancestral homeland; an area known as Turkish (or Western) Armenia—at the time part of the Ottoman Empire. His revolutionary activities ceased in 1904, when he left the Ottoman Empire. In 1907, Andranik left Dashnaktustyun because he disagreed with its cooperation with the Young Turks, a party which years later perpetrated the Armenian Genocide. In 1912–1913, together with Garegin Nzhdeh, Andranik led Armenian volunteers within the Bulgarian army against the Ottomans during the First Balkan War.

Since the early stages of World War I, Andranik commanded the first Armenian volunteer battalion and led them within the Russian Imperial army against the Ottoman army. After the Revolution of 1917, the Russian army retreated and left the Armenian irregulars outnumbered against the Turks. Andranik led the defense of Erzurum in early 1918, but was forced to retreat eastward. By May 1918, Turkish forces stood nearYerevan—the future Armenian capital. The Dashank-dominated Armenian National Council declared the independence of Armenia and signed the Treaty of Batum with the Ottoman Empire, by which Armenia gave up its rights to Western Armenia. Andranik never accepted the existence of the First Republic of Armenia because it included only a small part of the area many Armenians hoped to make independent. Andranik, independently from the Republic of Armenia, fought in Zangezur against the Azerbaijani and Turkish armies and helped to keep it within Armenia.

Andranik left Armenia in 1919 and spent his last years of life in Europe and the United States. He settled in Fresno, California in 1922 and died five years later in 1927. Andranik is greatly admired as a national hero by Armenians; numerous statues of him have been erected in several countries. Streets and squares were named after Andranik, and songs, poems and novels have been written about him, making him a legendary figure in Armenian culture.

Early life
Andranik Ozanian was born on 25 February 1865 in Shabin-Karahisar, Sivas Vilayet, Ottoman Empire—today in Turkey's Giresun Province—to Mariam and Toros Ozanian. Andranik means "firstborn" in Armenian. His paternal ancestors came from the nearby Ozan village in the early 18th century and settled in Shabin-Karahisar to avoid persecution from the Turks. His ancestors took the surname Ozanian in honor of their hometown. Andranik's mother died when he was one year old and his elder sister Nazeli took care of him. Andranik went to the local Musheghian School from 1875 to 1882 and thereafter worked in his father's carpentry shop. He married at the age of 17, but his wife died a year later while giving birth to their son—who also died days after the birth.

The situation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire had worsened under the reign of Abdul Hamid II, who sought to unify all Muslims under his rule. In 1882, Andranik was arrested for assaulting a Turkish gendarme for mistreating Armenians. With the help of his friends, he escaped from prison. He settled in the Ottoman capital Constantinople in 1884 and stayed there until 1886, working as a carpenter. He began his revolutionary activities in 1888 in the province of Sivas. Andranik joined the Hunchak party in 1891. He was arrested in 1892 for taking part in the assassination of Constantinople's police chief, Yusup Mehmet Bey—famed for his anti-Armenianism—on 9 February. Andranik once again escaped from prison. In 1892, he joined the newly created Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF or Dashnaktsutyun). During the Hamidian massacres of 1894–95, Andranik with other fedayi defended the Armenian villages of Mush and Sasun from attacks of the Turks and the Kurdish Hamidiye units. The massacres, which occurred between 1894 and 1896 and are named after Sultan Abdul Hamid II, killed between 80,000 and 300,000 people.

In 1897, Andranik went to Tiflis—the largest city of the Caucasus and a major center of Armenian culture at the time—where the ARF headquarters was located. Andranik returned to Turkish Armenia "entrusted with extensive powers, and with a large supply of arms" for the fedayi. Several dozen Russian Armenians joined him, with whom he went to the Mush-Sasun area where Aghbiur Serob was operating. Serob's forces had already established semi-independent Armenian areas by expelling the Ottoman government representatives.

Leader of the fedayi


Aghbiur Serob, the main leader of the fedayi in the 1890s, was killed in 1899 by a Kurdish chieftain, Bushare Khalil Bey. Months later, Bey committed further atrocities against the Armenians by killing a priest, two young men and 25 women and children in Sasun's village of Talvorik. Andranik replaced Serob as the head of the Armenian irregular forces "with 38 villages under his command" in the Mush-Sasun region of Western Armenia, where a "warlike semi-independent Armenian peasantry" lived. Andranik tried to kill Bey; he captured and reportedly decapitated the chieftan, and took the medal given to Bey by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.. Andranik thus earned an undisputed authority among his fedayi.

Although small groups of Armenian fedayi conducted an armed struggle against the Ottoman state and the Kurdish tribes, the situation in Turkish Armenia worsened as the European powers stood indifferent to the Armenian Question. Article 61 of the 1878 Treaty of Berlin intended the Ottoman government to "carry out, without further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds" remained unimplemented. According to Christopher J. Walker, the attention of the European powers was on Macedonia, while Russia was "in no mood for reactivating the Armenian question".

Battle of Holy Apostles Monastery


In November 1901, the Battle of Holy Apostles Monastery took place near Mush. This clash between the Ottoman troops and the fedayi became one of the best-known episodes of Andranik's revolutionary activities. Since Andranik had gained more influence over the region, more than 5,000 Turkish soldiers were sent after him and his band. The Turks chased and eventually circled him and his men, numbering around 50, at the Holy Apostles Monastery—also known as Arakelots—in early November. A regiment under the command of Ferikh Pasha and Ali Pasha besieged the fort-like monastery. The Turkish generals leading the army of twelve hundred men asked the fedayi to negotiate their surrender.

After weeks of resistance and negotiations—in which Armenian clergy and the headman of Mush and foreign consuls took part—Andranik and his companions left the monastery and fled in small groups. According to Leon Trotsky, Andranik—dressed in the uniform of a Turkish officer—"went the rounds of the entire guard, talking to them in excellent Turkish", and "at the same time showing the way out to his own men." After breaking through the siege of the monastery, Andranik gained legendary stature among provincial Armenians. He became so popular that the men he led came to refer to him always by his first name. Andranik intended to attract the attention of the foreign consuls at Mush to the plight of the Armenian peasants and to provide hope for the oppressed Armenians of the eastern provinces. According to Trotsky, Andranik's "political think took shape in a setting of Carbonarist activity and diplomatic intrigue."

1904 Sasun uprising and exodus
In 1903, Andranik demanded the Ottoman government stop the harassment of Armenians and implement the reforms in the Armenian provinces. Most fedayi were concentrated in mountainous Sasun, an area of about 12,000 sqkm with an overwhelming Armenian majority—1,769 Armenian and 155 Kurdish households—which traditionally considered their main operational area. The region was in "a state of revolutionary turmoil" because the local Armenians had refused to pay taxes for the past seven years. Andranik and tens of other fedayi—including Hrayr and Sebouh—held a meeting at Gelieguzan village in the third quarter of 1903 to manage the future defense of the Armenian villages from possible Turkish and Kurdish attacks. Andranik suggested a widespread uprising of the Armenians of Taron and Vaspurakan; Hrayr opposed his view and suggested a small, local uprising in Sasun, because the Armenian irregulars lacked resources. Hrayr's suggestion was eventually approved by the fedayi meeting. Andranik was chosen as the main commander of the uprising.



The first clashes took place in January 1904 between the fedayi and Kurdish irregulars supported by the Ottoman government. The Turkish offense started in early April. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Turkish soldiers and 7,000 Kurdish irregulars were put against 100 to 200 fedayi and 700 to 1,000 local Armenian men. Hrayr was killed during the intense fighting; Andranik survived and resumed the fight. Between 7,000 and 10,000 Armenian civilians were killed during the two months of the uprising, while abut 9,000 were left homeless. Around 4,000 Sasun villagers were forced into exile after the uprising.

After weeks of fighting and cannon bombardment of the Armenian villages, the Ottoman forces and Kurdish irregulars suppressed the uprising by May 1904; they outnumbered the Armenian forces several times. Minor clashes occurred thereafter. According to Christopher J. Walker, the fedayi came "near to organising an uprising and shaking Ottoman power in Armenia", but "even then it was unthinkable that the empire would lose any of her territory, since the idea of intervention was far from Russia". Trotsky wrote that international attention was on the Russo-Japanese War and the uprising went largely ignored by the European powers and Russia.

In July–August 1904, Andranik and his fedayi reached Lake Van and got to Aghtamar Island with sailing ships. They escaped to Persia via Van in September 1904, "leaving little more than a heroic memory." Trotsky states that they were forced to leave Turkish Armenia to avoid further killings of Armenians and to lower the tensions, while Tsatur Aghayan wrote that Andranik left the Ottoman Empire because he sought to "gather new resources and find practical programs" for the Armenian struggle.

Immigration and conflict with the ARF


From Persia, Andranik moved to the Caucasus, where he met the Armenian leaders in Baku and Tiflis. He then left Russia and traveled to Europe, where he was engaged in advocacy in support of the Armenians' national liberation struggle. In 1906 in Geneva, he published a book on military tactics. Most of the work was about his activities and the strategies he used during the 1904 Sasun uprising.

In February–March 1907, Andranik went to Vienna to participate in the fourth ARF Congress. The ARF, which had been associating with Turkish immigrant political groups in Europe since 1902, discussed and approved the negotiations with the Young Turks—who later perpetrated the Armenian Genocide—to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Andranik strongly denounced this cooperation and left the party. In 1908, the ARF asked Andranik to move to Constantinople and nominate his candidacy in the Ottoman parliament election, but he declined the offer, saying "I don't want to sit there and do nothing". Andranik distanced himself from active political and military affairs for several years.

First Balkan War
In 1907 Andranik settled in Sofia, where he met the leaders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization—including revolutionary Boris Sarafov—and the two pledged to work jointly for the oppressed peoples of Armenia and Macedonia. During the First Balkan War (1912–13), Andranik led a company of 230 Armenian volunteers— part of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps of Aleksandar Protogerov within the Bulgarian army—against the Ottoman Empire. He shared the command with Garegin Nzhdeh. On the opposite side, approximately 8,000 Armenians fought for the Ottoman Empire. Andranik was given the rank of a first lieutenant by the Bulgarian government. He distinguished himself in several battles, including in the Battle of Merhamli, when he helped the Bulgarians to capture Turkish commander Yaver Pasha. Andranik was honored with the Order of Bravery by General Protogerov in 1913. However, Andranik disbanded his men in May 1913, and foreseeing the war between Bulgaria and Serbia he "retired to a village near Varna, and lived as a farmer until August 1914".

World War I
With the eruption of World War I in July 1914 between Russia, France and Britain on one side and Germany, the Ottoman Empire and Austria on the other, Andranik left Bulgaria for Russia. He was appointed the commander of the first Armenian volunteer battalion by the Russian government. From November 1914 to August 1915, Andranik took active part in the Caucasus Campaign within the Imperial Russian Army as the head commander of the first Armenian battalion of about 1,200 volunteers. Andranik's battalion particularly stood out at the Battle of Dilman in April 1915. By the victory at Dilman, the Russian and Armenian forces under the command of General Nazarbekov, effectively stopped the Turks from invading the Caucasus via Iranian Azerbaijan.

Through 1915, the Armenian Genocide was underway in the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the war, virtually all Armenians living in their ancestral homeland were either exterminated or forced into exile by the Ottoman government. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died in the process, ending the over two thousand year Armenian presence in Western Armenia. The only major resistance to the Turkish atrocities took place in Van. The Turkish army besieged the city, but the local Armenians, under the leadership of Aram Manukian, successfully kept them out until the Armenian volunteers reached Van, forcing the Turks to retreat. Andranik with his unit entered Van on 19 May 1915. Andranik subsequently helped the Russian army to take control of Shatakh, Moks and Tatvan in the southern shore of Lake Van. During the summer of 1915, the Armenian volunteer units disintegrated and Andranik went to Tiflis to recruit more volunteers and continued the combat in November 1915 until March 1916. With Andranik's support, the city of Mush was captured by Russians in February 1916. In recognition of lieutenant general Theodore G. Chernozubov the successes of Russian army in numerous locations were significantly associated with the fighting of the first Armenian battalion, headed by Andranik. Chernozubov praised Andranik as a brave and experienced chief, who well understood the combat situation, described him as always at the head of militia, enjoying great prestige among the volunteers.

The situation drastically changed in 1916, when the Russian government ordered the Armenian volunteer units to be demobilized and prohibited any Armenian civic activity. Thus, Andranik resigned as the commander of the first Armenian battalion. Despite the Russian promises made earlier their plan for the region was to make Turkish Armenia its integral part and "possibly repopulate by Russian peasants and Cossacks." Richard Hovannisian suggests that because the "Russian armies were in firm control of most of the Armenian plateau by the summer of 1916, there was no longer any need to expend niceties upon the Armenians." According to Tsatur Aghayan, Russia "used" the Armenian volunteers for its own interests. Andranik and other Armenian volunteers, disappointed by the Russian policy, left the front in July 1916.

Russian Revolution and Turkish reoccupation
The February Revolution was positively accepted by the Armenians since it ended the autocratic rule of Nicholas II. The Special Transcaucasian Committee (known as OZAKOM) was set up in the South Caucasus by the Russian Provisional Government. In April 1917, Andranik initiated the publication of the newspaper Hayastan (Armenia) in Tiflis. Vahan Totovents became the editor of this non-partisan, Turkish Armenian-orientated newspaper. Until December 1917, Andranik remained in the South Caucasus where he sought to help the Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire in their search for basic needs. The provisional government decree of 9 May 1917 put Turkish Armenia under civil administration, where Armenians held key positions. About 150,000 local Armenians began to rebuild the devastated Turkish Armenia, however, the Russian army units gradually disintegrated and many soldiers deserted and returned to Russia.

After the October Revolution, the chaotic retreat of the Russian troops from Turkish Armenia escalated. The Bolshevik-turned Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Erzincan on 5 December 1917 ending the hostilities. Although the Soviet Russian government formally acknowledged the right of self-determination of the Turkish Armenians in January 1918, on 3 March 1918, Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, ceding not only Turkish Armenia, but also large areas in Eastern Europe in order to concentrate its forces against the Whites in the Russian Civil War.

In December 1917, because the Russian divisions were deserting the region en masse, the Russian command authorized the formation of the Armenian Army Corps under the Transcaucasian Commissariat. The Armenian Army Corps, under the command of General Nazabekov, positioned in the front line from Van to Erzincan (about 20,000 people). Two of its three divisions were made up of Russian Armenians, while Andranik commanded the Turkish (Western) Armenian division. The Georgian forces patrolled the area between Erzincan and the Black Sea. Hovannisian states that the only "several thousand men now defended a 300-mile front formerly secured by a half million Russian regulars." Since December 1917, Andranik commanded the Armenian forces in Erzurum. In January 1918, he was appointed commander of the Western Armenian division of the Armenian Army Corps and given the rank of major-general by the Caucasus Front command. Andranik was unable to defend Erzurum for long and the outnumbering Turks captured Erzurum on 12 March 1918, forcing the Armenians to evacuate the city.

While the Transcaucasian delegation and the Turks were holding a conference in Trebizond, through March and April the Turkish forces "overran the temporary establishment of Armenian rule in Turkish Armenia, extinguishing the hope so recently raised. This was a notable and tragic moment for Turkish Armenians, and for Armenian nationalists altogether: it was the liquidation of Armenian – or indeed non-Turkish – rule in Western Armenia. With the spring offensive of 1918 the homeland, yerkirë, was taken back by the Turks, and, despite the hopes raised at the Paris peace conference, has remained Turkish to this day." Hovannisian writes that thus "the battle for Turkish Armenia had been quickly decided; the struggle for Russian Armenia was now at hand." After the Turks captured Erzurum, the largest city in Turkish Armenia, Andranik retreated through Kars and passing through Alexandropol and Jalaloghly arrived in Dsegh. By early April 1918, the Turkish forces reached the pre-war international borders. By 18 May, Andranik and his unit were in Dsegh and were not able to take part in the battles of Sardarabad, Abaran and Karakilisa.

First Republic of Armenia
Since the Ottoman forces were effectively stopped at Sardarabad, the Armenian National Council declared the independence of the Russian Armenian lands on May 28, 1918. Andranik condemned this move and denounced the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. "Angry" with the Dashnaks, he favored good relations with the Bolshevik Russia instead. Andranik refused to acknowledge the Republic of Armenia, because according to the Treaty of Batum it "was only a dusty province without Turkish Armenia whose salvation Armenians had been seeking for 40 years." From early June, Andranik departed from Dilijan with thousands of refugees and through Yelenovka, Nor Bayazet and Daralagyaz arrived in Nakhichevan on June 17. He subsequently tried to help the Armenian refugees from Van at Khoy, Iran. He there sought to join the British forces in northern Iran, but after encountering a large number of Turkish soldiers he retreated to Nakhichevan. On 14 July 1918 he proclaimed Nakhichevan an "integral part" of Soviet Russia. His move was welcomed by Armenian Bolshevik Stepan Shahumyan and Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.

Zangezur
As the Turkish forces moved towards Nakhichevan, Andranik with his Armenian Special Striking Division moved up to the mountainous region of Zangezur to set up a defense. By mid-1918, the relations between the Armenians and Azeris in Zangezur had risen high. Andranik arrived in Zangezur at a "critical moment" with around 30,000 refugees and a force of an estimated three to five thousand men. He established an effective control of the region by September. The role of Zangezur was crucial since it was a connection point between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Under Andranik, the region became one of the last centers of Armenian resistance after the Treaty of Batum.

Andranik's irregulars remained in Zangezur surrounded by Muslim villages that controlled the key routes connecting the different parts of Zangezur. According to Donald Bloxham, Andranik initiated the process of transforming Zangezur into a solidly Armenian land by destroying Muslim villages and tried to ethnically homogenize key areas of the Armenian state. In late 1918, Azerbaijan accused Andranik of massacring innocent Azerbaijani peasants in Zangezur and demanded that he withdraw Armenian units from Zangezur. Antranig Chalabian suggests that if his Special Striking Division had not been in the area, "the Tartars and the Turks would have exterminated the sixty thousand Armenians of Zangezur"; he further stated that Andranik "did not massacre peaceful Tatars." Andranik's activities in Zangezur were protested by Ottoman general Halil Pasha who threatened the Dashnak government with retaliation for the actions wrought by Andranik. Armenia's Prime Minister Hovhannes Katchaznouni rightfully claimed to have no control over Andranik and his forces.

Karabakh
The Ottoman Empire was officially defeated in the First World War and the Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October 1918. The Ottoman forces evacuated Karabakh in November 1918 and by the end of October of that year, Andranik's forces were concentrated in between Zangezur and Karabakh. Before moving towards Karabakh, Andranik made sure that the local Armenians would support him in fighting the Azeris. In mid-November 1918, he received letters from Karabakh Armenian officials calling him to postpone the offensive for 10 days to negotiate with the Muslims of the region. According to Hovannisian, "the time lost proved crucial." In late November, Andranik's forces headed towards Shusha, the main city of Karabakh and a major Armenian cultural center. After an intense fighting against the Kurds, his forces broke through Abdallyar and the surrounding villages.

By early December Andranik was some 40 km away from Shusha, when he received a message from British General W. M. Thomson, who was in Baku at the time, suggesting that he retreat from Karabakh "since the World War was over, any further Armenian military activity would adversely affect the solution of the Armenian question, soon to be taken under the consideration by the peace conference in Europe." Andranik, "trusting the British", returned to Zangezur, "since all further matters would be solved at the peace conference."

The region was left under limited control of the Armenian Karabakh Council. The British mission under command of Thomson arrived in Karabakh in December 1918. Thomson insisted that the council "act only in local, nonpolitical matters", which sparked discontent among the Armenians. An "ardent pan-Turkist" Khosrov bey Sultanov was soon appointed the governor of Karabagh and Zangezur by Thomson to "squash any unrest in the region." Christopher J. Walker suggests that "Karabagh with its large Armenian majority remained Azerbaijani throughout the pre-Soviet and Soviet period" because of "Andranik's trust of the word of a British officer."

Departure
During the winter of 1918–19 Zangezur was isolated from Karabakh and Yerevan by snow. The refugees intensified the famine and epidemic conditions and gave way to inflation. In December 1918, Andranik withdrew from Karabakh to Goris. On his way, he met with British officers, who suggested the Armenian units stay in Zangezur for the winter. Andranik agreed. On 23 December 1918, a group of Armenian leaders met in a conference and concluded that Zangezur could not handle the multitude until spring. They agreed that the first logical step in relieving the tension was the reparation of the more than 15,000 refugees whose homes were in Nakhichevan, the adjoining district that had been just evacuated by the Ottoman armies. Both Andranik and the conference called upon the British to provide for the refugees in the interim. Major W. D. Gibbon arrived with limited supplies and money donated by the Armenians of Baku. However, this wasn't enough to support the refugees.

At the end of February 1919 Andranik was ready to leave Zangezur. British Major Gibbon suggested Andranik and his soldiers leave by Baku-Tiflis railway at Yevlakh station. Andranik did not accept his plan and on 22 March 1919, he left Goris and across Sisian through deep snowdrifts to Daralagyaz moved to Ararat plain with his few thousand irregulars. After a three weeks long march his men and horses reached the railway station of Davalu. Dro, the Assistant Minister of Military Affairs, and Sargis Manasian, the Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs met Andranik and offered to take him to visit Yerevan, but he rejected their invitation as he believed the Dashnak government had betrayed the Armenians and was responsible for the loss of his homeland and the annihilation of his people. Zangezur became more vulnerable for Azerbaijani threats after Andranik left the district. Earlier, before the Andranik's and his soldiers dismissal, the local Armenian forces had requested support from Yerevan.

On 13 April 1919 Andranik reached Etchmiadzin, the seat of Catholicos of All Armenians and the religious center of the Armenians, "in conjunction with us made preparations for disbanding." His 5,000-strong division had dwindled to 1,350 soldiers. As a result of disagreements Andranik had with the Dashnak government and the diplomatic machinations of the British in the Caucasus, Andranik disbanded his division and handed over his belongings and weapons to the Catholicos George V.

On 27 April 1919 he left Etchmiadzin and accompanied by 15 officers went to Tiflis on a special train. "The news of his journey traveled before him. At every station crowds were waiting to get a glimpse of their national hero." He left Armenia for the last time in his lifetime, never to return. In Tiflis he met with Georgia's Foreign Minister Evgeni Gegechkori and discussed the Georgian–Armenian War with translation of Hovhannes Tumanyan.

Last years
From 1919 to 1922 Andranik wandered in Europe and the United States seeking support for the Armenian refugees. He visited Paris and London "trying to persuade Allies to occupy Turkish Armenia." In 1919, during his visit to France, Andranik was bestowed the title of Legion of Honor Officier by President Raymond Poincaré. In late 1919 Andranik led a delegation to the United States to lobby its support for a mandate for Armenia and fund-raising for the Armenian army. He was accompanied by General Jaques Bagratuni and Hovhannes Katchaznouni. In Fresno he directed a campaign in which he raised $500,000 for the relief of Armenian war refugees.

When he returned to Europe Andranik married Nevarte Kurkjian in Paris on 15 May 1922. Boghos Nubar was their best man. Andranik and Nevarte moved to the United States and settled in Fresno, California in 1922. In his 1936 short story, Antranik of Armenia, Armenian-American writer William Saroyan described Andranik's arrival: "It looked as if all Armenians of California were at the Southern Pacific depot at the day he arrived." Then Saroyan continues, "he was a man of about fifty in a neat Armenians suit of clothes. He was a little under six feet tall, very solid and very strong. He had an old-style Armenian mustache that was white. The expression of his face was both ferocious and kind." In his novel Call of the Plowmen (published in 1979), Khachik Dashtents, describes Andranik's life in Fresno. Note that Andranik's name is changed into Shapinand in the novel.



Death
In February 1926 Andranik left Fresno to reside in San Francisco in an unsuccessful attempt to regain his health. According to his death certificate found in the Butte County, California records, Andranik passed away on 31 August 1927 at Richardson Springs, California from angina. On 7 September 1927 a city-wide public attention was accorded him at his funeral in the Ararat Cemetery, Fresno. The New York Times reported that more than 2,500 members of the Armenian community attended memorial services in Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan.

Andranik's remains were originally planned to be buried in Armenia; however, the Soviet authorities refused entry. He was first buried at the Ararat Cemetery in Fresno, California. His remains were moved to France and buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on January 29, 1928. In early 2000, the Armenian and French governments arranged the transfer of Andranik's body from Paris to Yerevan. Asbarez wrote that it was originally initiated by Armenia's Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, who was killed several months ago in the parliament shooting. Andranik's body was eventually moved to Armenia on 17 February 2000. It was placed in the Sport & Concert Complex in Yerevan for two days and then taken to the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, where Karekin II "officiated over a funeral service." Andranik was re-interred at Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan on 20 February 2000, next to Vazgen Sargsyan. In his speech during the reburial ceremony, Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan described Andranik as "one of the greatest sons of the Armenian nation". A memorial was built on his grave with the phrase "Zoravar Hayots" (literally translating to "General of the Armenians") engraved on it.

Public image
Andranik became a hero during his lifetime. The Literary Digest, one of the most influential American newspaper at the time, described Andranik in 1920 as "the Armenian's Robin Hood, Garibaldi, and Washington, all in one." The same year, The Independent wrote that he is "worshiped by his countrymen for his heroic fighting in their defense against the Turks." In a letter to Andranik, the noted Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanyan praised him, while Bolshevik and Soviet statesman of Armenian origin Anastas Mikoyan wrote in his memoirs that "the name Andranik was surrounded by halo of glory."

Andranik is widely considered a national hero by Armenians worldwide. He is also pictured as a legendary figure in the Armenian culture. Five surveys were conducted by Gallup, Inc., International Republican Institute and the Armenian Sociological Association from 2006 to 2008 asking the question "Of the prominent Armenian people and characters in Armenian history and folk culture, who is most suitable to be a national hero or leader at the present time?". Andranik was placed second after Vazgen Sargsyan, with 9–18% of the respondents giving Andranik's name. Andranik's activities have also attracted some criticism; for instance, writer Ruben Angaladyan (hy) stated that Andranik "doesn't have the right" to have a statue in Yerevan, because he did not do "anything real" for the First Republic and he left Armenia. Angaladyan acknowledges that Andranik is a popular hero; however, he finds the term "national hero" in describing Andranik unacceptable. According to Gerard Libaridian Andranik is "the most famous of the Armenian guerrilla fighters, although not necessarily the most important."



Despite the fact that Andranik was generally seen as a pro-Russian/Soviet figure, the legacy of Andranik and other Armenian national heroes was diminished and "any reference to them would be dangerous since they represented the strive for independence", especially prior to the Khrushchev Thaw. Paruyr Sevak, a prominent Soviet Armenian author, wrote an essay about Andranik in 1963 after reading one of his soldier's notes. Sevak lamented that his generation knew "little about Andranik, almost nothing." He continued, "knowing nothing about Andranik means to know nothing about modern Armenian history." Two years later, in 1965, Andranik's 100th anniversary was celebrated in Soviet Armenia.

There are a number of statues and memorials of Andranik around the world, many of them outside of Armenia, including in Bucharest, Romania (1936), Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris (1945), Melkonian Educational Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus (1990), Le Plessis-Robinson, Paris (2005), Varna, Bulgaria (2011),  and Armavir, Russia. A memorial exists in Richardson Springs, California, where Andranik died. In May 2011, a statue of Andranik was put in Volonka village near Sochi, Russia; however, it was removed the same day, apparently under pressure from Turkey, which earlier announced that they would boycott the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics if the statue remained standing.

The first statue of Andranik in Armenia was erected in 1967 in the village of Ujan. More statues have been erected after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union 1991. Three Andranik statues can be found in the Armenian capital Yerevan: in Malatia-Sebastia district (2000), near the St. Gregory Cathedral (by Ara Shiraz, 2002) and outside the Fedayi Movement Museum (2006). Besides Yerevan, Andranik's statues stand in in Voskevan and Navur villages of Tavush, in Gyumri's Victory Park (1994), Arteni, Angeghakot, and others.



Numerous streets and squares both in Armenia (in Yerevan and other cities) and abroad, including in Córdoba, Argentina, Plovdiv and Varna in Bulgaria, Meudon, Paris and a section of Connecticut Route 314 state highway running entirely within Wethersfield, Connecticut are named after Andranik. General Andranik Station of the Yerevan Metro was opened in 1989 as Hoktemberyan Station and was renamed for Andranik in 1992. In 1995 General Andranik's Museum was founded in Komitas Park of Yerevan, but was soon closed, because the building was privatized. It was reopened on September 16, 2006 by Ilyich Beglarian as the Museum of Armenian Fedayi Movement named after Andranik Ozanian.

During the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Andranik "inspired a new generation of Armenians." A volunteer regiment from Masis named "General Andranik" operated in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh during the conflict. Many organizations and groups in the Armenian diaspora are named after him as well. On September 11, 2012, during the Bulgaria vs. Armenia football match in Sofia's Levski National Stadium, Armenian fans bought a giant poster with pictures of General Andranik and Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was murdered in 2004 by Azeri leitenant Ramil Safarov. The text on the poster read: "Andranik's children are also heroes ... The work will be done".

In culture


Andranik has been figured prominently in the Armenian literature, sometimes as a fictional character. The Western Armenian writer Siamanto wrote a poem entitled "Andranik" published in Geneva in 1905. The first book about Andranik was published during his lifetime. In 1920 Vahan Totovents, under the pen name Arsen Marmarian, published the book Gen. Andranik and his wars (Զոր. Անդրանիկ և իր պատերազմները) in the Entente-occupied Constantinople. The famed Armenian-American writer William Saroyan wrote a short story titled Antranik of Armenia, which was included in his collection of short stories Inhale and Exhale (1936). Another US-based Armenian writer Hamastegh's novel The White Horseman (Սպիտակ Ձիավորը, 1952) is said to have been based on Andranik and other fedayi. Hovhannes Shiraz, one of the most prominent Armenian poets of the 20th century, had written at least two poems about Andranik, one in 1963 and another one in 1967. The latter one, titled Statue to Andranik (Արձան Անդրանիկին), was published after his death, in 1991. Sero Khanzadyan's novel Andranik was "suppressed for years" and was published in 1989, when the tight Soviet control over publications relaxed. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the Armenian author Suren Sahakyan collected folk stories and completed a novel, "Story about Andranik" (Ասք Անդրանիկի մասին). It was first published in Yerevan in 2008.

Andranik's name has been memorialized in numerous songs. Already in 1913, Leon Trotsky described Andranik as "a hero of song and legend." Andranik is one of the main figures featured in Armenian patriotic songs, performed by Nersik Ispiryan, Harout Pamboukjian and others. There are dozens of songs dedicated to him, including Like an Eagle by gusan Sheram, 1904 and Andranik pasha by gusan Hayrik. Andranik also features in the popular song The Bravehearts of the Caucasus (Կովկասի քաջեր) and other pieces of Armenian patriotic folklore.

Several documentaries were produced of the Armenian commander, including Andranik (1929) by Armena-Film in France, directed by Asho Shakhatuni, who also played the main role; General Andranik (1990) directed by Levon Mkrtchyan, narrated by Khoren Abrahamyan; and Andranik Ozanian, a 53 minute-long documentary by the Public Television of Armenia.

Awards


Through his military career, Andranik was awarded with a number of medals and orders by governments of four countries. Andranik's medals and sword were moved to Armenia and given to the History Museum of Armenia in 2006.

Published works

 * Memoirs of Andranik written down by Levon K. Lyulejian.
 * Memoirs of Andranik written down by Levon K. Lyulejian.
 * Memoirs of Andranik written down by Levon K. Lyulejian.
 * Memoirs of Andranik written down by Levon K. Lyulejian.