Alexander Khatisian (; 17 February 1874 – 10 March 1945) was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n politician, doctor and journalist. Khatisian was born in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

in the

Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(Tbilisi,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) to a prominent Armenian family of noble origins. He first studied at a state school in Tiflis, then received his training as a doctor at universities in Moscow, Kharkov and Germany. He served as the mayor of Tiflis from 1910 to 1917. During this period

Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov (russian: Илларио́н Ива́нович Воронцов-Дашков; 27 May 1837 – 15 January 1916) was a notable representative of the Vorontsov family. He served as Minister of Imperial Pr ...

consulted with him, Primate of Tiflis Bishop Mesrop Der-Movsesian, and prominent civic leader Dr.

Hakob Zavriev Hakob Zavriev ( hy, Հակոբ Զավրիև), also known as Yakov Zavriev, was an Armenian politician. Zavriev was a graduate of the St. Petersburg Army Medical Academy. He later joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The viceroy of the ...

about the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments in the summer of 1914, which Khatisian enthusiastically supported and organized. In 1917, Khatisian became a member of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

. In the lead up to the establishment First Republic of Armenia, he served as a member from the Armenian National Council of Tiflis to the Armenian National Council and later to the permanent executive committee selected by

Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians The Armenian National Congress (or Congress of Eastern ArmeniansTer-Minassian p.30) was a political congress established to provide representation for Armenians of the Russian Empire.Adalian p.76 It first met at the Artistic Theatre in Tbilisi on . ...

. After declaration of the First Republic of Armenia, he served as foreign minister and signed the

Treaty of Batum The Treaty of Batum was signed in Batum on 4 June 1918, between the Ottoman Empire and the three Transcaucasian states: the First Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Georgia. It was the first ...

with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He served as interior minister January–April 1920 following the death of

Aram Manukian Aram Manukian, reformed spelling: Արամ Մանուկյան, and he is also referred to as simply Aram. (19 March 187929 January 1919), was an Armenian revolutionary, statesman, and a leading member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation ...

, then served as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

from May 1919 to May 1920, resigning in the aftermath of the Bolshevik-led May Uprising. After his resignation, he sought aid for the Republic of Armenia in various European capitals. On December 3, 1920, an Armenian delegation led by Khatisian signed the

Treaty of Alexandropol The Treaty of Alexandropol ( hy, Ալեքսանդրապոլի պայմանագիր; tr, Gümrü Anlaşması) was a peace treaty between the First Republic of Armenia and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The treaty ended the Turkish-Armeni ...

with Kemalist Turkey, though the government it represented no longer existed (power had already been transferred to the new Soviet authorities), making the treaty illegal. Following the Soviet takeover of Armenia, Khatisian went into exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He wrote his memoirs titled ''Kʻaghakʻapeti mě hishataknerě'' ("The Memoirs of a Mayor") and ''Hayastani Hanrapetutʻian tsagumn u zargatsʻumě'' ("History and Development of the Republic of Armenia", 1930, revised edition 1968). He was arrested following the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation on suspicion of collaborating with the Germans, but was soon released. He died in Paris on 10 March 1945 at the age of 71.

References

1874 births 1945 deaths Georgian people of Armenian descent National University of Kharkiv alumni Foreign ministers of Armenia Prime Ministers of Armenia Armenian Revolutionary Federation politicians Armenian political scientists Interior Ministers of Armenia People of the First Republic of Armenia Armenian mayors of Tbilisi Ministers of Social Protection of the First Republic of Armenia {{Georgia-politician-stub