Krikor Amirian

Amirian in his George Mardikian Enterprises office in 1957

Amirian and friends in Üsküdar on May 24, 1920

Krikor Amirian ( Armenian Գրիգոր Ամիրեան , born June 20, 1888 in Bayburt , † August 1, 1964 in Los Angeles ) was an Armenian revolutionary. He fought in the rank of Çorbacı ( colonel ) of the Ottoman army in the Balkan Wars for his Turkish fatherland, but lost his entire family during the genocide . He was a co-founder of the Democratic Republic of Armenia .

Origin and early life

Krikor Amirian's family were among the most influential citizens of the northern Turkish city of Bayburt . Amirian experienced the massacres of the Armenians from 1894–1896 in his childhood : In the spring of 1895 there was an Armenian revolt in the city. Eryia Amirian, Krikor Amirian's father, was chosen to represent the city in negotiations with the Ottoman authorities. However, he was murdered.

Krikor Amirian was trained at the local Armenian school in Bayburt and later went to the Turkish Army Officers Academy . In 1908 he graduated from the academy and was promoted to the rank of ağa ( lieutenant ). He served during the First Balkan War 1912-13. In the spring of 1913, Amirian was arrested by Bulgarian soldiers. In mid-1913, Amirian was released after signing the London Treaty .

First World War

Amirian family: above Sebouh and Dro, below: Siranoush, Christine and Krikor.

Krikor Amirian was traumatized by the Armenian genocide from 1915 onwards . His family was driven from Bayburt and died on the death march . The only surviving member of his family was Haiganoush, his oldest sister. She managed to escape and returned to Bayburt. Amirian then served as the bodyguard and teacher of General Andranik Ozanian Pasha. He was also a friend of General Dro .

When the Russian General WP Lyachow launched an attack on April 17, 1916 to recapture Bayburt in order to drive away the Turkish and German soldiers stationed in the city , Amirian was serving in the First Armenian Volunteer Regiment, which consisted of 1200 men and on the border region between Russia and Persia -Turkey fought. Amirian was in command of the artillery division under General Tovmas Nazarbekian . Although the volunteer associations were disbanded after the abdication of Russian Tsar Nicholas II , Amirian fought for the Armenian cause without Russian support.

Interwar period

After the end of the First World War in 1918, Krikor Amirian went to Üsküdar in Istanbul , where he worked as the director of an Armenian orphanage in a Turkish palace. In the early 1920s, Amirian fled to Romania with General Dro . Dro took responsibility for the Ghoukasian oil refineries in Ploiesti and Amirian was appointed its management officer. In 1923 Amirian married. A year later the first child was born, Christine, later two sons, Sebouh in 1925 and Dro in 1928. He lived with his older sister Haiganoush and niece Alene.

post war period

Amirian in front of Sebouh's house with his second granddaughter Christine

After the end of the war, Krikor Amirian and his family fled to Austria and finally to Italy . In Rome he met his nephew George Mardikian again. Amirian arrived in the United States with his wife Siranoush and child Dro in the 1950s . His two other children, Christine and Sebouh, had to wait five years for the first Displaced Persons Act to be passed. Amirian became a citizen of the United States on May 7, 1957.

Late life

Krikor Amirian continued his work in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation with his nephew George Mardikian. He worked with his three children in Mardikian's restaurant Omar Khayyam and in the "George Mardikian Enterprises".

In 1957, Amirian retired from George Mardikian Enterprises and moved his family to Los Angeles , California . He spent the rest of his days with his three children and six great-grandchildren. He wrote numerous articles for Armenian-language newspapers.

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Commons : Krikor Amirian  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Amirian, Krikor (1986). Memories (autobiography)
• Mardikian, George (1955). Song of America (autobiography)
• Vratsian, Simon (1960). Along Life's Pathway
• Chalabian, Antranig (1988). Dro
• Torlakian, Misag (1963). Together We Go
• Krzulian, Manuk (2002). Dro, The Immortal Soldier of the Armenian Liberation Struggle (article)