Sergey Teryan and his wife

The photograph shows Sergey Teryan with his wife. He was born in the village of Banants in Gardman. In the years of the genocide and repressions he became one of the Armenian avengers and killed a Turkish pasha responsible for crimes against Armenians. For this he was arrested by the Musavatists, taken to Baku and strangled in prison. Later, in the 1920s, his wife was sentenced and shot, this time by Armenian Bolsheviks.

The woman stands in a long light-coloured dress, her hand resting on her husband’s shoulder. The man sits on a wooden bench, wearing a fur hat, dark clothes and high boots. A cartridge belt crosses his chest; he holds a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other.