Sargis Barseghyan, figure of the liberation movement

Sargis Barseghyan was a figure of the Armenian national liberation movement. He was born in 1875 in Gandzak, studied at the local Nersisian School and then at the University of Geneva. In Switzerland he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. In 1904 he took part in the “Storm” (Potorik) operation in Shushi, directed against the Ottoman authorities. He was arrested, but on the way to prison fedayis attacked the escort and freed the prisoners.

In 1905 he took part in the Armenian–Tatar war, then worked in Van, and from 1908 in the region of Karin (Erzurum). In 1909 he moved to Constantinople, became one of the leaders of the party’s city organisation and married Berjuhi Partizpanian. Later he returned to Van, worked as a school inspector and became one of the founders of the newspaper “Ashkhatank”. In March 1915 he was arrested, and on 30 April he was executed near Ankara.

The photograph shows a young bearded man in a light-coloured suit against a background of shrubs.