Andranik Ozanian

Andranik Ozanian (Armenian: Անդրանիկ Օզանեան) (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian military commander, fedayee leader and a key figure of the Armenian national movement in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Andranik is greatly admired in Armenia as a national hero.

After losing his mother, later his wife and their newborn son, Andranik joined the fedayee movement in late 1880s, first fighting against the Turks and Kurds in ranks of Hunchaks, later as a Dashnak. His revolutionary activities lasted until 1904, when he left the Ottoman Empire. In 1907 Andranik left the Armenian Revolutionary Federation because of disagreement with cooperation with the Young Turks. In 1912–1913, together with Garegin Nzhdeh, Andranik led the Armenian volunteer company of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps against the Ottomans duirng the First Balkan War.

During the First World War, Andranik stood at the head of the first Armenian volunteer battalions and later led them against the Ottoman army. After Armenia's declaration of independence in May 1918, Andranik fought in Nakhichevan, Karabakh and Zangezur against the Azerbaijani and Turkish armies.

General Andranik left Armenia in 1919, because of strong disagreements with the Dashnak authorities of Armenia. He spent his last years of life in Europe and the United States. He settled in Fresno, California in 1922 and died five years later in 1927, at age of 62.