He was born as
Armenak Ghazarian in Aharonk, a village in the
Western Armenian
Taron canton of
Turuberan province. His father was priest
Mamprè Ghazarian. Armenak was graduated from the school of
Surb Karapet Monastery in
Mush during the late 1880s. Later, he studied at the United Armenian College of Mush. He was deeply influenced by the revolutionary ideas of his teacher
Mkrtich Saryan. After his graduation, Armenak has worked as a teacher in the Armenian schools of
Sasun and Taron. He always wore the traditional Armenian hat of the people of Mush region.
Hrayr and
Dzhoghk were his two pen-names, that he used when he contributed articles to the official organ of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Droshak. At the beginning of his revolutionary career in 1890, he joined the
Hunchakian Party and worked closely with the party leaders
Mihran Damadian and
Hampartsoum Boyadjian. Shortly after, he left the Hunchakian Party in 1893 for ideological differences. Dzhoghk joined the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation and worked with prominent military leaders
Aghbiur Serob,
Kevork Chavush and
Andranik Ozanian. In spring 1894, Hrayr went to the
Caucasus to purchase weapons for the Armenian revolutionaries. Then he went to
Romania where he joined the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He believed in rebellion with the participation of the masses, and was one of the leaders of the
Sasun Resistance of 1894. By 1895, Hrayr returned to Western Armenia with a group of 50 young men among which were Andranik Ozanian and Aghbiur Serob. Together with Tatul (Aram Aramian) he organized defense against slaughter in the area of
Basen. In June, 1896 both were arrested and placed in prison of
Erzurum; Tatul was hanged, Hrayr released on amnesty. Afterward he went to
Van and made plans to organize the
Van Defense of 1896, then to Sasun (1902) where Hrayr and Andranik were both the main organizers and heads of the
Sasun Resistance of 1904. During this defense, he was killed on 13 April in the village
Gelieguzan. He was buried near Serob Pasha in the court of a local church. Hrayr and his comrade's bodies were buried by Andranik's soldiers, who came to help the local population. ==Notes==