Shavarsh Krissian (22 July 1886 – 15 August 1915) was an athlete, writer, publicist, journalist, educator, and editor of '' Marmnamarz'', the first sports magazine of the Ottoman Empire. He is considered one of the founders of the Armenian Olympics and the Homenetmen Armenian sports organization. He was a victim of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

Life

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 ...

descent, Shavarsh Krissian was born in the

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

district of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

on 22 July 1886. He studied at the local Makruhyan Armenian school and continued his education at the prestigious Reteos Berberian school in the

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

district. He later studied and graduated from the

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

. In 1905 Krissian continued his education in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

Lycée Janson de Sailly In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. On 19 July 1909, he returned to

and began teaching physical education at local Armenian schools.

''Marmnamarz''

In February 1911 Shavarsh Krissian published the '' Marmnamarz'' (Armenian: "Body of national physical training") which became the first sports periodical of the Ottoman Empire. The ''Marmnamarz'' was a monthly periodical that provided the necessary information regarding sports events, news, and the results of competitions. The magazine also published photographs of various Armenian athletes throughout the world. In the periodical Krissian established the concept of Armenian Olympics. ''Marmnamarz'' eventually became an important contributor to the development of sports and athletic activity within the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire. The periodical suspended its activity in 1914 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and ultimately ceased publication after Krissian fell victim to the

Homenetmen

Though Homenetmen was formally established in 1918, three years after the death of Shavarsh Krissian, he is still considered one of its founding members. The idea and founding principals of Homenetmen was first developed by Krissian. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Armenian Olympics, which held its first competition on 1 May 1911. Prior to

, there were about forty Armenian athletic clubs in

alone. The Armenian Olympic committee's by-laws were eventually incorporated into Homenetmen.

Armenian genocide

On 24 April 1915, Shavarsh Krissian was one of the Armenian notables deported into the interior provinces of the Ottoman Empire as part of the

. He was sent to the Ayaş prison in the province of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. During his prison sentence, Krissian organized gymnastic exercises. However, once news reached the deportees of Ayaş about the 20 Hunchakian gallows of 15 June 1915, the atmosphere in the prison was abruptly changed. The prison guards viewed the gymnastic exercises with suspicion and severity.Avedis Nakashian: ''A Man Who Found A Country'', Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York 1940 pp. 208-278 Shavarsh Krissian was eventually rounded up and killed in the outskirts of

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