Christapor Mikaelian

Christapor Mikaelian

Christapor Mikaelian (Armenian: Քրիստափոր Միքայէլեան) also known by his noms de guerre Hellen (Էլլէն), Topal (Թոփալ), and Edward (Էդուարդ), (October 18, 1859 - March 1 , 1905) was one of the three founders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation along Stepan Zorian and Simon Zavarian, also part of Armenian national liberation movement.

Early life

Christapor Mikaelian was born in the village of Agulis in Goghtn (Eastern Armenia), now part of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. He graduated from the Professorial academy of Tiflis and also attended the University of Moscow, where he met Simon Zavarian, another co-founder of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Political activism

Upon his return to Tiflis, he organized, trained, and taught groups of people belonging to the working class. In order to mobilize the dispersed Armenian fedayees, he founded an organization known as Երիտասարդ Հայաստան (Young Armenia).

He later became a co-founder of the ARF alongside Simon Zavarian and Stepan Zorian. He was one of the members of the ARF Bureau until his death.

He was eventually deported to Bessarabia. He then made his way to Galatz, Romania, where he participated in the production of Droshak newspaper, eventually becoming its editor.

Mikaelian came up with the idea of killing Sultan Abdul Hamid II in the Yıldız assassination attempt. However, he died while testing bombs in a mountain in Bulgaria. He was 46 years old.

References

• Translated from the Armenian: Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, C. hador [Armenian History, volume III], Athens, Greece, 1996, pg. 34.

See also

• Armenian Revolutionary Federation
• Stepan Zorian
• Simon Zavarian