Suren Spandaryan

Suren Spandaryan
Born1882
Died1916 (aged 33–34)
Krasnoyarsk, Russian Empire
NationalityArmenian
Occupation(s)literature critic, publicist and Bolshevik

Suren Spandari Spandaryan (Armenian: Սուրեն Սպանդարի Սպանդարյան; 1882 in Tiflis – 24 September 1916) was an Armenian revolutionary in the Russian Empire, literary critic, publicist and one of the founders of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Life

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Spandaryan was born in 1882 in Tiflis. His father was a newspaper editor.[1]

Spandaryan became Joseph Stalin's "best friend" as early as 1902 when he let him print pamphlets using his father's printing presses.[1] In 1907, they spent New Year's Eve together in Baku and attempted to encourage more strikes among the workers there.[2]

In January 1912, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks at the Prague Conference.[3] In March of the same year, Spandaryan was arrested in Baku. Lenin, who considered Spandaryan a "very valuable and prominent worker"[4] supported Spandaryan's father financially after the arrest, since the latter at that time lived in Paris without any means.[5]

Spandaryan had a wife, Olga,[2] and children.[1] He was sentenced to lifelong exile to Siberia, where he died four years later.[6]

Honors

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There is a statue of him in Yerevan. The towns of Spandaryan, Shirak, Spandaryan, Syunik and Surenavan are named after him.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Montefiore, Simon Sebag (2007). Young Stalin. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 93.
  2. ^ a b Montefiore, Simon Sebag (2007). Young Stalin. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 203–204.
  3. ^ HISTORY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (BOLSHEVIKS), Chapter 5, by J.V. Stalin
  4. ^ Collected Works, Filth (Russian) Ed., Vol. 52. V.I. Lenin, memo to V.M. MOLOTOV FOR THE R.C.P.(B.) C.C. SECRETARIAT
  5. ^ Lenin Miscellany XIII, V.I. Lenin, letter to V. A. TER-IOANNISYAN, 5 May 1912
  6. ^ Spandaryan, Suren Spandarovich