Back Murad Sebastatsi Azerbaijani Murad von Sebasteia German Murad de Sebastio Esperanto سباستاتسی موراد Persian Սեբաստացի Մուրադ Armenian Սեբաստացի Մուրատ HYW Murad di Sebastia Italian Мурад Себастаци Russian Sebastatsi Murad Turkish Мурад Себастаці Ukrainian
Sebastatsi Murad | |
|---|---|
 Battle of Erzincan, 1916 | |
| Nickname(s) | Murad of Sebastia |
| Born | 1874 Govdun, Sivas Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 4 August 1918 (aged 43–44) Baku, Baku Governorate, Azerbaijan |
| Allegiance |  Hnchakian Dashnaktsutyun |
| Years of service | 1890s—1918 |
| Battles / wars | Armenian National Liberation Movement Sasun Uprising World War I |
Murad of Sebastia (Armenian: Սեբաստացի Մուրատ, Sebastatsi Murad; Murad of Sebastia; Murad Khrimian; Murad Hagopian;[1] 1874 — 4 August 1918) was a well-known Armenian fedayee during the Armenian national liberation movement in the Ottoman Empire.[2] He was born in the Armenian village of Govdun (Կովտուն), about 20 km east of the town of Sivas (from where he got his nickname, Sebastatsi) to a poor rural family that had recently moved to the village. After working as a shepherd and farm labourer during his childhood, he moved as a teenager to Constantinople, where he worked for meagre earnings as a carrier. He joined the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and, in the 1890s, participated in Armenian demonstrations protesting against the second-class treatment of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire.
After assassinating an Armenian informer he escaped to Greece and then to Egypt. He then became a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, joined fedayee bands, and participated in guerrilla activities in response to the Hamidian massacres. In 1904 he played a visible role during the Sasun Uprising,[3] and then started to operate in Van. During the Armenian-Tatar massacres 1905-1907, he was designated head of defense of the Zangezur region and, gathering a group of 50 horsemen, he defended the Armenian population of Kapan from massacres.[3] An amnesty following the Young Turk revolution of 1908 allowed Murad to return to the Ottoman Empire, where he worked in Van and in Sivas. In particular, he participated in the organization of a network of schools and charitable and female societies, and taught physical culture and theatrical art at Armenian schools.
- ^ "Мурад Себастаци". genocide.ru.
- ^ Lewy, Guenter (Nov 21, 2005). The Armenian massacres in Ottoman Turkey: a disputed genocide. University of Utah Press. pp. 31.
- ^ a b Garegin Pasdermadjian, "Why Armenia Should be Free: Armenia's Role in the Present War," translated by Aram Torossian, page 22.