Your trusted source

January 19 marks the death anniversary of National Hero of Armenia Movses Gorgisyan.

Movses Gorgisyan (1961-1990) was a politician and one of the leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh movement. He was one of the founders of the Army of Independence. Widely known for his speeches on the independence of Armenia, he was also an active advocate of Artsakh's independence campaign.

Born in Yerevan, Gorgisyan graduated from the Department of Culture of the Armenian State Pedagogical University in 1984, with the qualification of a stage director and producer. In 1986-1987 he worked at the Theatre of Goris. In 1987, he joined the national movement, becoming a member of the Union for National Self-Determination.

Gorgisyan led the demonstrations for independence in Yerevan, being jailed in 1988. He was also an editor of the Armenian edition of Glasnost magazine. Gorgisyan was the first person to hoist Armenia's tricolor flag on 28 May 1988 for the first time. This was the same day the First Republic of Armenia was founded 70 years prior.

In late 1989, Gorgisyan and several other members of the Union for National Self-Determination founded the Army of Independence, an armed group which engaged in violent clashes with the Soviet and Soviet Azerbaijani authorities in the Armenian SSR and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

Gorgisyan was killed in a battle with Azerbaijani forces attacking border villages in Ararat Province on 19 January 1990 and was buried at Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex.

He posthumously received the highest title in Armenia, the National Hero of Armenia award.