Sarkis Hovhannesi Kasyan or Kasian (''Qosyan'', (), , 1876,

Shushi Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

- December 11, 1937) was an Armenian Soviet statesman, politician, publicist and journalist. He was arrested and later shot in 1937 during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. He was posthumously rehabilitated.

Biography

Sarkis Kasyan was born on January 28, 1876, in the town of

in the Elisabethpol Governorate of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. During his childhood, his family moved to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, where he attended the Baku Realschule. There, Kasyan began participating in underground student organizations and reading banned literature. He was expelled from school in the seventh grade for disobedience. Kasyan left for Germany in 1900 and graduated from Leipzig Commercial Institute and the Faculty of Philosophy of Berlin University in 1904. After graduating, he returned to Baku. From 1903 to 1904, he was a supporter of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party's left wing. He was a member of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

faction of the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

from 1905. He was one of the founders of Armenian Bolshevik press in 1905, and worked at a number of Bolshevik newspapers based in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(Tbilisi) and Baku. He headed the Tiflis communist party organization from 1912 to 1914. From 1914 to 1917 he was in exile in

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

and

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

. From 1919 to 1920 he was chairman of the Armenian committee of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party. Kasyan was one of the signatories of a secret decision made in September 1920 by the leadership of the Communist Party of Armenia which called on members to work to "speed up Armenia's defeat" in the Turkish–Armenian War and "dissolve the Armenian army by all means." From November 1920 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia and chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Armenia. He signed the declaration of the Sovietization of Armenia. On December 2, 1920,

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

sent him a telegram welcoming the establishment of Soviet Armenia. From 1927 to 1931 he was the chairman of the All-Caucasian Central Executive Committee, and from 1928 to 1930 he was also the chairman of the All-Armenian Central Executive Committee. He was elected a member of the All-Union Central Executive Committee. From 1931 to 1934 he was chairman of the Supreme Court of the Transcaucasian SFSR. In 1937, during the

, Kasyan was arrested and charged with organizing "a right-wing terrorist organization and armed groups" in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

in order to assassinate party and government leadership. He was shot on December 11, 1937. He was posthumously rehabilitated. Besides his own political writings, Kasyan translated works by

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

․ It was changed to Vazgen The First, as people did not like Kasyan for his accomplice with The Soviets.

References

External links

Patriarchs, Kings and Rulers of ArmeniaKasyan at Russian Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasyan, Sarkis Politicians from Shusha People from Elizavetpol Governorate Communist Party of Armenia (Soviet Union) politicians 1937 deaths 1876 births Armenian atheists Great Purge victims from Armenia Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic People