Today marks the birth of the great Armenian commander Antranik Toros Ozanian.
He was born on 25 February 1865 in the city of Shabin-Karahisar in Western Armenia. He made an undeniable contribution and took part in the national liberation struggle, leading the fedayee groups and spreading terror among the enemy.
His entry into the national liberation movement came through the partisan units of Serop Vartanian, known as Aghbiur Serop. General Antranik led the battles of the Monastery of Arakelots in 1901 and organised the killing of Beshara Khalil, the murderer of Aghbiur Serop. Antranik Ozanian’s participation in the national liberation struggle was not limited to Armenia. He played an undeniable role in the Balkan War. In 1912, Ozanian organised a company of Armenian volunteers and took part in the Balkan War.
The General was awarded six decorations: “Knight of the Legion of Honour,” “Order of Saint Vladimir, Fourth Class,” “Order of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, First Class,” “Order of Saint Stanislaus, Third Class,” “Cross of Saint George, Second Class,” and “Cross of War, Second Class.”
On 16-18 May 1918, near the village of Vorontsovka, Antranik’s detachment, which had earned him the rank of Major General, held back the Ottoman forces. In the Battle of Lori on 25-28 May 1918, Antranik thwarted the main Turkish offensive in the direction of Dilijan, thanks to which the Turkish command was forced to abandon most of the mountainous Lori region.
Great was Antranik’s role in the defence of Zangezur. Antranik’s forces were the main obstacle to the Turkish conquest of the Caucasus, yet as a result of political rearrangements he left Armenia.
Antranik Ozanian spent the last years of his life in the United States and died on 31 August 1927, being buried in the “Ararat” cemetery in Fresno. In January 1928, his remains were transferred to Paris and reburied in the Père Lachaise cemetery, and in 2000 they were reburied in the Yerablur pantheon in Yerevan.
