Andranik Ozanian (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927)

“My father had a good reason to steal the sword of one of General Andranik’s soldiers,” recounts 80 year-old Markos Yeghoyan, a resident of the Vayots Dzor village of Azadek.

Everyone in the village knows the tale that has been passed down from generation to generation. The only living eyewitness is the old walnut tree in Azadek. General Andranik and his men camped under its branches on night on their way to Nakhichevan.

This is how Markos, son of Artashes, tells the story:

- General Andranik and his men were heading to Nakhichevan. They entered our village to rest for the night. I heard from the village elders that all the people loved Andranik dearly. Everyone brought out their most tasty food for the general. Well, in those days, it was more like whatever they had at the moment. The villagers cooked soup for him. That night, my father was able to steal the sword of one of General Andranik’s men and flee up the mountain. The next morning, word got around that one of the general’s soldiers had his sword stolen. The head of the village realized that only Artashes was missing. The villagers started to look for him. Some of my uncles went up the mountain and found my father with the sword in hand. They persuaded him to come back down and return the sword.

- The village patriarch asked my father to hand the sword over to him so that he could return it to Antranik. But my father approached the general. The first question that Ozanian asked my father was ‘How old are you?’ My father answered, ‘14’. To which the general replied, ‘Too bad, if you were 18, I’d take you with me.’ Antranik let my father keep the sword as a gift. My father said he needed the sword to frighten of men from the surrounding villages who would come and demand their last bit of food. During those days, no one in Azadek had any weapons.

The next day General Andranik continued on the road to Nakhichevan, leaving the sword and this story with the villagers of Azadek to tell their children and grandchildren...

Grandpa Markos was told the story by his father. He kept the sword as a memento for all these years at home. Today, the sword is gone. Why? It’s a sad story and the old man didn’t want to tell me.

Nouneh Hovsepyan                                                                                                                                       Yerevan State University                                                                                                                                 Faculty of Journalism; 4th Year