Ardashes "Ardeshir" Ovanessian (Persian: آرداشس آوانسیان) (1905–1990) was an Iranian

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leader of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

origin.

Biography

He was born around 1905 in

Rasht Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...

, to an Armenian family originally hailing from

Salmas Salmas ( fa, سلماس; ; ; ; syr, ܣܵܠܵܡܵܣ, Salamas) is the capital of Salmas County, West Azerbaijan Province in Iran. It is located northwest of Lake Urmia, near Turkey. According to the 2019 census, the city's population is 127,864. ...

. After completing a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

apprenticeship (the profession of his father), he became involved in radical politics. He became involved in the radical Cultural Society of Rasht. Ovanessian became a cadre of the

Communist Party of Persia The Communist Party of Iran ( fa, حزب کمونیست ایران, Ḥezb-e komūnīst-e Iran) was an Iranian communist party. Originally established as the Justice Party ( fa, فرقه عدالت, Ferqa'ye ʿEdālat) in 1917 by the former So ...

in 1923. In 1925, he was sent to study at

KUTV KUTV (channel 2) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14) and St. George–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate K ...

. Upon his return in 1926 he organized a pharmacists' trade union. For the Communist Party Ovanessian played a key role in the organizing of the party in Azerbaijan, making frequent visits to the different towns in the region.

Abrahamian, Ervand Ervand Abrahamian; hy, Երուանդ Աբրահամեան (born 1940) is an Iranian-American historian of the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York an ...

.
Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran
'. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1999. pp. 36-37 Ovanessian was eventually captured by the police, and would spend eleven years in

Qasr prison The Museum of the Qasr Prison ( fa, موزه‌ زندان قصر ''muze-ye zendān-e qasr'') is a historical complex in Tehran, Iran. Formerly referred to as the Qasr Prison ( ''zendān-e qasr'', "Mansion prison"), it was one of the oldest poli ...

. In prison, Ovanessian played a major role. He and other jailed communist leaders organized cultural and educational activities for other inmates. In jail, Ovanessian studied

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. Once released in 1941, he became a founding member of the

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...

. He became a member of the Provisional Central Committee of the party. After his release, he published a self-biographical work of his prison ordeals. He was elected to the 14th

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

in 1944, as a representative of the Armenian minority.Ladjevardi, Habib.
Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran
'. Contemporary issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1985. pp. 260-261 He presided over the Tudeh Party congress held in August the same year. Ovanessian was elected to the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Tudeh Party. He was one of two former members of the old Persian Communist Party to be included in the Central Committee (the other being Amir-Khizi). He also became a leading figure in the Tudeh-led trade union movement.

.
Iran between Two Revolutions
'. .l. Princeton Univ Press, 1982. p. 348 Ovanessian organized a peasant uprising in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in 1945. Police later claimed to have found documents in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, indicating that he was preparing an anti-government conspiracy. Ovanessian fled to Rasht. He became

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the

Azerbaijan People's Government The Azerbaijan People's Government ( az, آذربایجان میللی حکومتی - Azərbaycan Milli Hökuməti; fa, حکومت خودمختار آذربایجان) was a short-lived unrecognized secessionist state in northern Iran from Nov ...

. When the Azerbaijan People's Government fell, he went into exile in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. On May 18, 1949, he was sentenced to death ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

'' by an Iranian court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovanessian, Ardeshir 1905 births 1990 deaths People from Rasht Iranian people of Armenian descent Prisoners and detainees of Iran Iranian trade unionists Communist Party of Persia politicians Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran members Iranian revolutionaries Armenian revolutionaries Iranian communists Iranian emigrants to the Soviet Union People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union People sentenced to death in absentia Armenian Representatives in National Consultative Assembly Tudeh Party of Iran MPs Members of the 14th Iranian Majlis