Hrant Maloyan

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Hrant Maloyan as a fighter in the Syrian army

Hrant Bey Maloyan ( Armenian Հրանդ Պէյ Մալոյեան ; born November 29, 1896 in Istanbul , † 1978 in California ), known as Hrant Bek , was an Armenian general in the Syrian army and commander in chief of the internal security forces in Syria . He has been awarded numerous medals from the Syrian Republic , Lebanon and Egypt .

Life

Hrant Maloyan was born into an Armenian Catholic family. From 1905 to 1907 he went to school with the Mechitarists in San Lazzaro near Venice . After that, he went to the Marist Educational Institution and graduated in 1912. After attending a Turkish school for a year, he studied law at the Istanbul College of Law from 1913 to 1914. He later attended the Ottoman Military Academy ( Harbiye , now Kara Harp Okulu ) and graduated there in 1916.

During the First World War , Hrant Maloyan served in the Ottoman army and was sent to Suez , but British troops captured him. After his release, Maloyan went to Damascus in 1918 and participated in the establishment of the Kingdom of Syria under King Faisal I. In 1920 he joined the French army and served in the Armenian Legion .

Maloyan spoke five languages ​​fluently and was therefore used as a translator, later also as the commander of the gendarmerie . He was involved in the battles for Marasch and Amanos in the course of the occupation of Cilicia . Due to his partial success, Maloyan was promoted to commissioned officer in 1922.

In 1945 the Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli appointed him General Commander of the Internal Security Forces in Syria. Maloyan served in that position until 1949. His appointment was used by the Syrian press as evidence of the extent to which Syrian society integrated its diverse population. It is believed that this is the highest position an Armenian has ever held in Syria .

Maloyan was honored for modernizing the Syrian police force and improving the discipline of the task forces in the country: the number of police officers had doubled to 9,751 by the end of his tenure. In 1946, Maloyan had the Alawite separatist and rebel leader Sulaimān Murschid arrested, who was executed after a trial in November 1946.

During the Palestine War against Israel in 1948, Maloyan proclaimed martial law and issued curfews. This was to prevent disruptions to public order and major unrest. After he retired in August 1949, he worked for British Airways in Damascus. He later emigrated to the United States and stayed there until the end of his life. His funeral took place in the presence of veterans, soldiers, politicians, officers and a large following.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Սուրիական բանակի հայ զորավարները. AADmag, accessed November 9, 2014 (Armenian).
  2. ^ A b Nicola Migliorino: (Re) constructing Armenia in Lebanon and Syria: ethno-cultural diversity and the state in the aftermath of a refugee crisis . Berghahn, Oxford 2007, ISBN 1-84545-352-2 , pp. 136 ( here in the Google book search).
  3. ↑ a b c d e هرانت بك مالويان. Azad Hye, accessed November 9, 2017 (Arabic).
  4. ↑ a b c d e Sami Moubayed: Steel & silk: men and women who shaped Syria 1900-2000 . Cune, Seattle, Washington 2005, ISBN 1-885942-40-0 , pp. 71-2 ( here in the Google book search).
  5. ^ Pierre Atamian: Histoire de la Communauté Arménienne Catholique de Damas . S. 153-7 (French, here in the Google book search).
  6. ↑ Sami Moubayed: Armenians who came to the country after the First World War have assimilated into the society. Gulf News , accessed October 29, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Maloyan, Hrant
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maloyan, Hrant Bey; Մալոյեան, Հրանդ Պէյ (Armenian); Bek, Hrant
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Armenian General of the Syrian Army, Commander in Chief of the Internal Security Forces in Syria
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Istanbul
DATE OF DEATH 1978
Place of death California