Soghomon Tehlirian
Soghomon Tehlirian (Armenian: Սողոմոն Թեհլիրեան; April 2, 1896 – May 23, 1960) was an Armenian revolutionary and soldier who assassinated Talaat Pasha, the former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, in Berlin on March 15, 1921. He was entrusted to carry out the assassination after having earlier killed Harutian Mgrditichian, who had worked for the Ottoman secret police and helped compile the list of Armenian intellectuals who were deported on April 24, 1915.
Soghomon Tehlirian
April 2, 1896
May 23, 1960 (aged 64)
Ararat Cemetery, Fresno, California
Talaat's assassination was a part of Operation Nemesis, a revenge plan by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation against members of the Ottoman Imperial Government responsible for the Armenian genocide during World War I. Talaat Pasha had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in the Turkish courts-martial of 1919–20, and was viewed as the main orchestrator of the genocide. After a two-day trial Tehlirian was found not guilty by a German court, and freed.
Tehlirian is considered a national hero by Armenians.[2][3]
Life
Soghomon Tehlirian was born on April 2, 1896, in the village of Nerkin Bagarij (Բագառիճ), in the Erzurum vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.[4] He was raised in Erzincan.[5]
Tehlirian's father left for Serbia to secure the family's planned move to the country.[4] After his return in 1905, he was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment. During this time, the Tehlirian family moved from Nerkin Bagarij to Erzinjan.[4] Tehlirian received his initial education at the Protestant elementary school in Erzinjan.[4] After graduation at the Getronagan (Central) Lyceum of Constantinople, he went to study engineering in Serbia and had plans to continue his education in Germany.[4][6]
In 2014, Tehlirian's story was told in a graphic novel, Special Mission: Nemesis.[30]
The song Գինի լից, Gini lits ("Pour the wine"), is a well-known revolutionary song,[31] which commemorates and glorifies the assassination of Talaat by Tehlirian. It has been recorded in a variety of versions and is known by heart by many Armenians. The version by Sahak Sahakyan also has a music video. The first stanza of the song goes:[32]