Amatuni Simoni Amatuni (Armenian: Ամատունի Սիմոնի Ամատունի), born Amatuni Vardapetyan (Armenian: Ամատունի Վարդապետյան), was a Soviet Armenian politician who served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia from 1936 to 1937. Born in Yelisavetpol (Ganja), Elizavetpol uezd, Elizavetpol Governorate, Russian Empire, he became a member of the Bolshevik Party in 1919.[1] From 1926 to 1928 he studied at the Institute of Red Professors, then held various party positions in Yerevan, Tiflis, and Baku.[1] An ally of Lavrentiy Beria,[2] he served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia from 1935 to 1936, then became First Secretary in 1936 after the death of his predecessor Aghasi Khanjian.[1] With Armenian NKVD chief Khachik Mughdusi, Amatuni oversaw the initial part of the Great Purge in Armenia, before his own arrest on 23 September 1937.[1] He appeared on Stalin's execution list of 26 July 1938 and was shot the same day.[3]
Amatuni Vardapetyan | |
|---|---|
Ամատունի Վարդապետյան | |
 Vardapetyan after his arrest by the NKVD, 1937 | |
| First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia | |
| In office 13 July 1936 – 21 September 1937 | |
| Preceded by | Aghasi Khanjian |
| Succeeded by | Grigory Arutinov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 October 1900 Yelisavetpol (Ganja), Elizavetpol uezd, Elizavetpol Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 26 July 1938 (aged 37) Kommunarka shooting ground, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Armenian |
References edit
- ^ a b c d "Аматуни, Аматуни Симонович". www.alexanderyakovlev.org. Архив Александра Н. Яковлева - Альманах "Россия. ХХ век" - Биографический словарь. Archived from the original on 2014-05-23. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- ^ Medvedev, Roy Aleksandrovich (1989). Let History Judge: The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism. Translated by Shriver, George. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780231063500.
- ^ Matossian, Mary Kilbourne (1975). "Armenia and the Armenians". In Katz, Zev; Rogers, Rosemarie; Harned, Frederic (eds.). Handbook of Major Soviet Nationalities. New York: Free Press. pp. 146–147. ISBN 9780029170908.