Simon Vratsian
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Simon Vratsian | |
---|---|
Սիմոն Վրացեան | |
4th Prime Minister of Armenia | |
In office 23 November 1920 – 2 December 1920 | |
Preceded by | Hamo Ohanjanyan |
Succeeded by | position abolished |
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia | |
In office 23 November 1920 – 2 December 1920 | |
Preceded by | Hamo Ohanjanyan |
Succeeded by | position abolished Alexander Bekzadyan (as People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of Soviet Armenia) |
Minister of Agriculture and State Property of Armenia | |
In office 3 April 1920 – 23 November 1920 | |
Preceded by | position established |
Succeeded by | Arshak Hovhannisyan |
Minister of Labour of Armenia | |
In office 3 April 1920 – 23 November 1920 | |
Preceded by | position established |
Succeeded by | Arshak Hovhannisyan |
Personal details | |
Born | 5 April [ Nor Nakhichevan (today Nakhichevan-on-Don), Russian Empire |
Died | 21 May 1969 Beirut, Lebanon | (aged 87)
Nationality | Armenian |
Political party | Armenian Revolutionary Federation |
Spouse | Yelena Shigaeva |
Simon Vratsian (Armenian: Սիմոն Վրացեան; 5 April [O.S. 24 March] 1882 – 21 May 1969) was an Armenian politician and activist of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He was one of the leaders of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920) and served as its last prime minister for 10 days in 1920. He also headed the Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland for 40 days during the anti-Bolshevik February Uprising in 1921. While in exile, he continued his political and educational activities in the Armenian diaspora and wrote several books, most notably his six-volume memoir Keankʻi ughinerov ("On the Path of Life") and his history of the First Republic of Armenia titled Hayastani Hanrapetutʻiwn ("The Republic of Armenia").
Biography
Vratsian was born Simavon Grouzian in the village of Metz Sala (Bolshiye Saly) near Nor Nakhichevan in the Russian Empire (now Nakhichevan-on-Don) on 5 April 1882 (March 24 by the Julian calendar).[1] When he was five years old, his family settled among Cossacks in the Kuban region, although they soon returned to Metz Sala at the insistence of Vratsian's mother, who wanted her children to receive an Armenian education.[1] After education at Armenian and Russian schools, he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, also known as Dashnaktsutiun or the Dashnak party) in 1898, apparently by mistake while trying to join the rival Hunchak Party, which was holding a meeting in the same building.[1][2] He received further education at the Gevorgian Seminary in Echmiadzin from 1900 to 1906. Vratsian returned to Nor Nakhichevan as an ARF operative and took part in the 4th General Congress of the Dashnaktsutiun at Vienna in 1907, where he supported the adoption of socialism in the party program.[1]
In 1908, he traveled to Saint Petersburg to study law and education. He earned his teaching credentials but was instructed to flee Russia before completing his law degree due to increased repression of ARF members by the Tsarist authorities.[1] He went first to Constantinople and then to Erzurum, where he was invited to train Armenian teachers at the Sanasarian Academy and teach history at a secondary school for girls. He then travelled to the United States in 1911 where he edited the Hairenik newspaper in Boston.[1]
In 1914, he traveled to
On 2 December he surrendered
During his lifetime he edited various now defunct Armenian periodicals and newspapers, including Harach and Horizon. He also traveled extensively, appealing to various European powers to help Armenia regain its independence. He finally settled in Beirut, Lebanon in 1952, where he was principal of and taught courses at the Collège Arménien (Nshan Palandjian Jemaran), one of the main schools of the Armenian diaspora. Among his former students are the prominent Armenian historians Richard G. Hovannisian and Gerard Libaridian.[2][4] He died in Beirut aged 87 on 21 May 1969.
Personal details
In his memoirs, Vratsian explains that his original surname, Grouzian, came from the Armenian word "grouz" (գռուզ), which means curly or frizzled.[5] This was because many people from his extended family had curly hair. His surname was changed by a schoolteacher, Melikian, who incorrectly assumed that Grouzian was a corruption of Gruzinian (from Russian gruzin, meaning Georgian), and thus Armenianized it to Vratsian (from the Armenian word for Georgian).[1] Vratsian describes that after the incident with Melikian, his family was divided into three camps: the Grouzian camp, which included his mother, who thought he was a traitor, and his conservative uncle Garabed; the Grouzinian camp, which consists of his "lover of all new things" (as described by Vratsian) uncle Mergian; and the Vratsian camp, of which Simon was the only member. He also mentions in his memoirs that his grandmother died aged 116, but that it cannot be proven since most countries didn't start recording dates of birth until the year 1900.
He describes his father as a storyteller, whose stories increased business for the family coffee shop. He also writes in his memoirs (Keankʻi ughinerov) about his rich maternal uncle Mikishka, and estimates that his net worth in several millions of dollars.[6] Vratsian recounts how his "cheap" and "stingy" maternal uncle Mikishka gave him the equivalent of 20 modern US cents for a 2,000 kilometer journey.[7] He also recalls how later, when he was getting involved in Armenian political parties, he was going to be a member of the Social-Democrat Hnchakian Party. However, he and his friend accidentally walked into a Dashnak meeting, themselves becoming Dashnaks. He also describes the ARF General Congresses in minute detail, such as which member of the congress wanted an alliance with Russia, who wanted to fund the curing of Armenian villagers from lice,[8] which hotel he stayed in, and who he became friends with. He describes his friendship with prominent figures of the Armenian national movement such as Rostom, Hamazasp, Andranik, Armen Garo, Aram Manukian, among others. For example, in the second volume of his memoir Keankʻi ughinerov, he recounts that he was a teacher of Armenian history for one year. One of his students who always disrupted class was Andranik's daughter. Vratsian hit Andranik's daughter, and was summoned to the Headmaster's office. There he met Andranik, and when Vratsian explained why he had hit his daughter, Andranik thanked Vratsian for disciplining her.[9] Vratsian was also a close friend of Drastamat Kanayan (Dro), with whom he lived in Beirut for several years; Vratsian wrote a book about Dro's life titled Mrrkatsin Dron ("Tempest-born Dro").[10]
In Vratsian's memoirs, there are no accounts of his wife or any children. Oliver Baldwin's "Six Prisons and Two Revolutions" gives us the only piece of evidence about his direct family. Baldwin was an Englishman who became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Armenian Army. He was at the house of Dr. Clarence Ussher (from the Near East Relief) when a messenger from Vratsian arrived asking Dr. Ussher to keep his wife and son safe when the Bolsheviks took over. However, according to Baldwin, Vratsian's son "died of exposure" while they were fleeing to Persia in the aftermath of the February Uprising.[11] There is no other mention of Vratsian's wife and son.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hovannisian 1969.
- ^ a b c "May 28: Vratsian’s Hayastani Hanrapetutʻiwn".
- ^ Dasnabedian 1990, p. 197.
- ^ Libaridian 2018.
- ^ Vratsian 1960, p. 11.
- ^ Vratsian 1960, p. 83.
- ^ Vratsian 1960, p. 78.
- ^ Vratsian 1960, pp. 227–236.
- ^ Vratsian 1960, pp. 158–162.
- ^ Vratsian 1996, pp. 34–47, 173–178.
- ^ Baldwin 1944, p. 122.
Bibliography
- Baldwin, Oliver (1944). Six prisons and two revolutions: adventures in Trans-Caucasia and Anatolia, 1920–1921. Fresno, California: Meshag Publishing.
- Dasnabedian, Hratch (1990). History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutiun 1890/1924. Milan: Oemme Edizioni. ISBN 88-85822-11-8.
- JSTOR 4282291.
- Libaridian, Jirair (28 May 2018). "The "Garbage Bin" Approach to History and its Discontents". Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- "May 28: Vratsian's Hayastani Hanrapetutʻiwn and Hovannisian's The Republic of Armenia". NAASR. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- Vratsian, Simon (1960). Keankʻi ughinerov Volume II. Beirut: Hamazgayin.
- Vratsian, Simon (1996). Mrrkatsin Dron [Tempest-born Dro] (PDF). Beirut: Vahe Setian Publishing House. pp. 34–47, 173–178.
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