Leon Tourian: Difference between revisions
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
|||
| (44 intermediate revisions by 25 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:Leon Tourian.png|thumb|225px|Tourian]] |
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}[[File:Leon Tourian.png|thumb|225px|Tourian]] |
||
[[Archbishop]] '''Leon Tourian''' ( |
[[Archbishop]] '''Leon Tourian''' ({{Lang-hy|Ղեւոնդ Դուրեան}}; 29 December 1879 – 24 December 1933) was a cleric of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]. Appointed [[primate (bishop)|primate]] of the Eastern [[Diocese]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] of America in 1931, he was assassinated in [[New York City]] by [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]] members.<ref name=":0" /> |
||
== |
== Early ministry == |
||
Tourian was born in [[Istanbul]], [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Durean, Ghewond, 1879-1933 - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies {{!}} Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress) |url=https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n99015573.html |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=id.loc.gov}}</ref> Tourian was archbishop of [[Smyrna]], Vicar Patriarch of [[Constantinople]], and later a prelate in [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], and, Armenian Archbishop of [[England]]. |
|||
== North American ministry == |
|||
| ⚫ | The incident that resulted in a plot to assassinate the archbishop took place on 1 July 1933, in a pavilion for the celebration of Armenian Day at the [[Century of Progress Exposition]] in [[Chicago]]. Archbishop Tourian, upon his arrival to deliver an [[invocation]], ordered the removal of the red, blue, and orange [[Flag of Armenia|Tricolor]] of the [[ |
||
Archbishop Tourian was appointed to head the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in New York in 1931.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} |
|||
| ⚫ | From the archbishop's point of view, appearing beside this flag would provoke the wrath of Armenia's [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government, which was a serious concern, since the church's ultimate seat of spiritual authority lay in the Holy See at [[Etchmiadzin]], within the borders of [[Soviet Armenia]], and the [[Catholicos of All Armenians]] felt bound to keep peace with Soviet authorities.<ref name="Alexander"/> |
||
| ⚫ | The incident that resulted in a plot to assassinate the archbishop took place on 1 July 1933, in a pavilion for the celebration of Armenian Day at the [[Century of Progress Exposition]] in [[Chicago]]. Archbishop Tourian, upon his arrival to deliver an [[invocation]], ordered the removal of the red, blue, and orange [[Flag of Armenia|Tricolor]] of the [[First Republic of Armenia]] (1918–20) from the stage before he would step out on it.<ref name="Alexander">Alexander, Ben. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jaeh/27.1/alexander.html "Contested Memories, Divided Diaspora: Armenian Americans, the Thousand-day Republic, and the Polarized Response to an Archbishop’s Murder"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502103341/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jaeh/27.1/alexander.html |date=2009-05-02 }} ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' 27.1</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | However the members of the nationalist [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]] (ARF), known as [[Dashnak]]s, for whom the flag was a sacred symbol of the Armenian nation, took this as an act of treason. Tourian was soon attacked by five ARF members in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]]. Two of the attackers were convicted.<ref>[ |
||
| ⚫ | From the archbishop's point of view, appearing beside this flag would provoke the wrath of Armenia's [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government, which was a serious concern, since the church's ultimate seat of spiritual authority lay in the Holy See at [[Etchmiadzin]], within the borders of [[Soviet Armenia]], and the [[Catholicos of All Armenians]] felt bound to keep peace with Soviet authorities.<ref name="Alexander"/> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
Armenian language newspaper [[Hairenik]] – which had close ties with ARF – started publishing threatening letters for Tourian's life. Even the newspaper offered $100 reward to someone who will "teach Tourian a lesson". Later on Tourian asked for police protection.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1944-05-31 |title=John T. Flynn and the Dashnags |volume=3 |pages=2-3 |work=The Propaganda Battlefront |publisher=Friends of Democracy |url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/F%20Disk/Friends%20Of%20Democracy/Item%2006.pdf |access-date=2023-10-31}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | However the members of the nationalist [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]] (ARF), known as [[Dashnak]]s, for whom the flag was a sacred symbol of the Armenian nation, took this as an act of treason. Tourian was soon attacked by five ARF members in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]]. Two of the attackers were convicted.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1933/12/25/archives/beaten-at-church-picnic-archbishop-was-attacked-by-gang-in-westboro.html?sq=tourian%2520westboro&scp=1&st=cse "Beaten at church picnic; Archbishop Was Attacked by Gang in Westboro, Mass]" ''[[New York Times]]'' (December 25, 1933)</ref> After this incident Tourian hired a [[bodyguard]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | The police soon apprehended the other seven assailants, who were all ARF members. On July 14, 1934, after a trial that lasted five weeks, two of them, Mateos Leylegian and Nishan Sarkisian, were found guilty of first degree murder, and the other seven of first degree manslaughter. Leylegian and Sarkisian were sentenced to death, but [[Governor of New York]] [[Herbert Lehman]] commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment "on account of most unusual circumstances in this case".<ref>[ |
||
| ⚫ | [[File:Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church.jpg|thumb|left|275px|[[Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church (New York City)|Holy Cross Church]] at 580 [[187th Street (Manhattan)|West 187th Street]] in the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] neighborhood of [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]] was the scene of Tourian's assassination]] |
||
| ⚫ | Tourian was [[assassination|assassinated]] on December 24, 1933, when several men attacked him in the [[Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church (New York City)|Church of the Holy Cross]], in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan]], at the start of the Christmas Eve service. Tourian’s constant bodyguard, Kossof Gargodian, was sitting in the back of the church certain that there would be no assault upon Tourian in a holy place, on the day before Christmas.<ref>{{cite news |title=SLAIN IN 187TH ST. CHURCH; Assassins Swarm About Armenian Prelate and Stab Him. HE FALLS WITH CRUCIFIX Two Men Seized and Beaten by Enraged Congregation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/12/25/archives/slain-in-187th-st-church-assassins-swarm-about-armenian-prelate-and.html |work=New York Times}}</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | When, at the end of the procession, the archbishop passed the fifth row of pews from the rear, he was suddenly surrounded by a group of at least nine men. Two men stabbed Tourian with large [[butcher knife|butcher knives]], and once the archbishop fell, the attackers scattered and mixed with the crowd. Two of the assailants were seized by the parishioners, beaten, and subsequently handed over to the police.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1933/12/25/archives/slain-in-187th-st-church-assassins-swarm-about-armenian-prelate-and.html?sq=SLAIN%2520IN%2520187TH%2520ST.%2520CHURCH&scp=1&st=cse "Slain in 187th st. church; Assassins Swarm About Armenian Prelate and Stab Him"] ''[[New York Times]]'' (December 25, 1933)</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | The police soon apprehended the other seven assailants, who were all ARF members. On July 14, 1934, after a trial that lasted five weeks, two of them, Mateos Leylegian and Nishan Sarkisian, were found guilty of first degree murder, and the other seven of first degree manslaughter. Leylegian and Sarkisian were sentenced to death, but [[Governor of New York]] [[Herbert Lehman]] commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment "on account of most unusual circumstances in this case".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1935/04/10/archives/lehman-spares-lives-of-tourians-slayers-gives-life-imprisonment-to.html "Lehman spares lives of Tourian's slayers; gives life imprisonment to pair convicted of killing Armenian primate"] ''[[New York Times]]'' (April 10, 1935)</ref> The other seven were given prison terms of varying lengths, from 10 to 20 years.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1934/07/14/archives/nine-found-guilty-in-church-murder-two-convicted-of-murder-and.html "Nine found guilty in church murder; Two Convicted of Murder and Seven of Manslaughter in Armenian Prelate's Death"] ''[[New York Times]]'' (July 14, 1934)</ref><ref>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E10FF385D167A93C7AB178CD85F408385F92 "Tourian slayers condemned to die; Seven Others, Convicted in the Killing of Archbishop, Get Long Prison Terms"] ''[[New York Times]]'' (July 25, 1934)</ref> |
||
== Aftermath == |
== Aftermath == |
||
After the killing, [[American Armenian]] followers of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] became split between local churches affiliated with the Catholicosate of All Armenians ([[Armenian Apostolic Church#Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin|Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]]), located at the time in [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Armenia]], and those affiliated with the [[Holy See of Cilicia|Catholicosate of Cilicia]], in [[Antelias]], near [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]], though the liturgy has stayed the same. Individual congregations became either entirely Dashnak or anti-Dashnak in their membership, with forcible expulsions and violent fights in some instances. For decades to come, Armenians of the Dashnak persuasion would hold the nine Dashnak defendants to be innocent scapegoats and Archbishop Tourian to be a traitor to his nation, while non-Dashnak Armenians would consider the nine suspects and the entire Dashnak party responsible for the crime. |
After the killing, [[American Armenian]] followers of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] became split between local churches affiliated with the Catholicosate of All Armenians ([[Armenian Apostolic Church#Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin|Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]]), located at the time in [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Armenia]], and those affiliated with the [[Holy See of Cilicia|Catholicosate of Cilicia]], in [[Antelias]], near [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]], though the liturgy has stayed the same. Individual congregations became either entirely Dashnak or anti-Dashnak in their membership, with forcible expulsions and violent fights in some instances. For decades to come, Armenians of the Dashnak persuasion would hold the nine Dashnak defendants to be innocent scapegoats and Archbishop Tourian to be a traitor to his nation, while non-Dashnak Armenians would consider the nine suspects and the entire Dashnak party responsible for the crime.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} |
||
At present there are two Armenian church structures in the [[United States]]: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church of America; and the Holy See of Cilicia, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.<ref name="Alexander"/> |
At present there are two Armenian church structures in the [[United States]]: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church of America; and the Holy See of Cilicia, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.<ref name="Alexander"/> |
||
| Line 32: | Line 37: | ||
<!--spacing--> |
<!--spacing--> |
||
{{Authority control |
{{Authority control}} |
||
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
|||
| NAME = Tourian, Leon |
|||
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
|||
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American murder victim |
|||
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 1, 1879 |
|||
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Istanbul, Turkey |
|||
| DATE OF DEATH = December 24, 1933 |
|||
| PLACE OF DEATH = New York City |
|||
}} |
|||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourian, Leon}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourian, Leon}} |
||
[[Category:Primates of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America]] |
[[Category:Primates of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America]] |
||
[[Category:Oriental Orthodox bishops]] |
|||
[[Category:Assassinated Armenian people]] |
[[Category:Assassinated Armenian people]] |
||
[[Category:1879 births]] |
[[Category:1879 births]] |
||
[[Category:1933 deaths]] |
[[Category:1933 deaths]] |
||
[[Category:Assassinated religious leaders]] |
[[Category:Assassinated religious leaders]] |
||
[[Category:People murdered in New York]] |
[[Category:People murdered in New York City]] |
||
Latest revision as of 05:31, 11 June 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2023) |
Archbishop Leon Tourian (Armenian: Ղեւոնդ Դուրեան; 29 December 1879 – 24 December 1933) was a cleric of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Appointed primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in 1931, he was assassinated in New York City by Armenian Revolutionary Federation members.[1]
Early ministry
[edit]Tourian was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire.[2] Tourian was archbishop of Smyrna, Vicar Patriarch of Constantinople, and later a prelate in Greece, Bulgaria, and, Armenian Archbishop of England.
North American ministry
[edit]Archbishop Tourian was appointed to head the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in New York in 1931.[citation needed]
The incident that resulted in a plot to assassinate the archbishop took place on 1 July 1933, in a pavilion for the celebration of Armenian Day at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Archbishop Tourian, upon his arrival to deliver an invocation, ordered the removal of the red, blue, and orange Tricolor of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–20) from the stage before he would step out on it.[3]
From the archbishop's point of view, appearing beside this flag would provoke the wrath of Armenia's Soviet government, which was a serious concern, since the church's ultimate seat of spiritual authority lay in the Holy See at Etchmiadzin, within the borders of Soviet Armenia, and the Catholicos of All Armenians felt bound to keep peace with Soviet authorities.[3]
Armenian language newspaper Hairenik – which had close ties with ARF – started publishing threatening letters for Tourian's life. Even the newspaper offered $100 reward to someone who will "teach Tourian a lesson". Later on Tourian asked for police protection.[1]
However the members of the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), known as Dashnaks, for whom the flag was a sacred symbol of the Armenian nation, took this as an act of treason. Tourian was soon attacked by five ARF members in Worcester, Massachusetts. Two of the attackers were convicted.[4] After this incident Tourian hired a bodyguard.[citation needed]
Death
[edit]
Tourian was assassinated on December 24, 1933, when several men attacked him in the Church of the Holy Cross, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, at the start of the Christmas Eve service. Tourian’s constant bodyguard, Kossof Gargodian, was sitting in the back of the church certain that there would be no assault upon Tourian in a holy place, on the day before Christmas.[5]
When, at the end of the procession, the archbishop passed the fifth row of pews from the rear, he was suddenly surrounded by a group of at least nine men. Two men stabbed Tourian with large butcher knives, and once the archbishop fell, the attackers scattered and mixed with the crowd. Two of the assailants were seized by the parishioners, beaten, and subsequently handed over to the police.[6]
The police soon apprehended the other seven assailants, who were all ARF members. On July 14, 1934, after a trial that lasted five weeks, two of them, Mateos Leylegian and Nishan Sarkisian, were found guilty of first degree murder, and the other seven of first degree manslaughter. Leylegian and Sarkisian were sentenced to death, but Governor of New York Herbert Lehman commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment "on account of most unusual circumstances in this case".[7] The other seven were given prison terms of varying lengths, from 10 to 20 years.[8][9]
Aftermath
[edit]After the killing, American Armenian followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church became split between local churches affiliated with the Catholicosate of All Armenians (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin), located at the time in Soviet Armenia, and those affiliated with the Catholicosate of Cilicia, in Antelias, near Beirut, Lebanon, though the liturgy has stayed the same. Individual congregations became either entirely Dashnak or anti-Dashnak in their membership, with forcible expulsions and violent fights in some instances. For decades to come, Armenians of the Dashnak persuasion would hold the nine Dashnak defendants to be innocent scapegoats and Archbishop Tourian to be a traitor to his nation, while non-Dashnak Armenians would consider the nine suspects and the entire Dashnak party responsible for the crime.[citation needed]
At present there are two Armenian church structures in the United States: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church of America; and the Holy See of Cilicia, which is divided into the Eastern and Western Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.[3]
References
[edit]Notes
- ^ a b "John T. Flynn and the Dashnags" (PDF). The Propaganda Battlefront. Vol. 3. Friends of Democracy. 1944-05-31. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ "Durean, Ghewond, 1879-1933 - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ a b c Alexander, Ben. "Contested Memories, Divided Diaspora: Armenian Americans, the Thousand-day Republic, and the Polarized Response to an Archbishop’s Murder" Archived 2009-05-02 at the Wayback Machine Journal of American Ethnic History 27.1
- ^ "Beaten at church picnic; Archbishop Was Attacked by Gang in Westboro, Mass" New York Times (December 25, 1933)
- ^ "SLAIN IN 187TH ST. CHURCH; Assassins Swarm About Armenian Prelate and Stab Him. HE FALLS WITH CRUCIFIX Two Men Seized and Beaten by Enraged Congregation". New York Times.
- ^ "Slain in 187th st. church; Assassins Swarm About Armenian Prelate and Stab Him" New York Times (December 25, 1933)
- ^ "Lehman spares lives of Tourian's slayers; gives life imprisonment to pair convicted of killing Armenian primate" New York Times (April 10, 1935)
- ^ "Nine found guilty in church murder; Two Convicted of Murder and Seven of Manslaughter in Armenian Prelate's Death" New York Times (July 14, 1934)
- ^ "Tourian slayers condemned to die; Seven Others, Convicted in the Killing of Archbishop, Get Long Prison Terms" New York Times (July 25, 1934)
