Home Map E-mail
 
Eng |  Հայ |  Türk |   Рус  |  Fr  

Home
Main
About AGMI
Mission statement
Director's message
Contacts
Pre-Genocide Armenia
History of Armenia
Pre-Genocide photos
Intellectuals
Armenian Genocide
What is Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Chronology
Photos of Armenian Genocide
100 photographic stories
Mapping Armenian Genocide
Cultural Genocide
Remember
Documents
American
British
German
Russian
French
Austrian
Turkish

Research
Bibliography
Survivors Stories
Eye-Witnesses
Media
Quotations
Public Lectures
Recognition
States
International organizations
Provincial governments
Public petitions
AGMI Events
Delegations
Museum G-Brief
News
Conferences
Links
   Museum
Museum Info
Plan a visit
Permanent exhibition
Temporary exhibition
Online exhibition  
Traveling exhibitions  
Memorial postcards  
   Institute
Goals & Endeavors
Publications
AGMI Journals  
Library
AGMI collection
   Tsitsernakaberd Complex
Description and History
Memory alley
Remembrance day
 

Armenian General Benevolent Union
All Armenian Fund
Armenian News Agency
armin
armin
armin
armin
armin




News

Missak Manouchian: 1906-1944
The Armenian hero of the French resistance


21.02.2024


Following the decree made by French President Emmanuel Macron on June 18, 2023, the remains of Missak Manouchian, a hero of the French resistance and his wife Mélinée, both survivors of the Armenian Genocide, were interred in France's Panthéon on February 21st 2024, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the execution of Manouchian and his comrades. Misak and Mélinée Manushian became the first foreign individuals to be so honoured alongside French national heroes, thus becoming important symbols of friendship between the Armenian and French peoples.

Missak Manouchian (codename Michel Georges) was born in the city of Adıyaman, Kharberd Province of Western Armenia in 1906. His parents were killed during the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman state. Missak, who was left an orphan with his older brother Karapet (Garabed), were refugees who became inmates of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) orphanage in Jounie, Syria. The Armenian orphans in Syria, in accordance with the agreement reached in June 1925, were taken to France, where Missak began his epic journey. He joined the ranks of the French Communist Party in 1934 and began publishing the Armenian-language weekly newspaper "Zangou".

Manouchian was imprisoned and then released during the German occupation of France (1940-1944) during World War II. He then joined the resistance movement, leading a group of young people of various nationalities who were distinguished in the struggle against the occupying forces. The Nazis, to discredit Manouchian and his fighters, included him in the infamous "Affiche Rouge" ("Official Red Notice") propaganda list, in which he was listed as the Armenian leader of the group - an attempt to show that non-French people were fighting the Germans.

French police officers arrested members of Manouchian's group in Évry on the morning of November 16, 1943. His wife Mélinée managed to escape and was sentenced to death in absentia.

Sixty-eight people in total were arrested on the charge of having contact with Manouchian's group.

Manouchian was tortured and, with 21 members of his group, was executed at Fort Mont-Valérien in Suresnes, a suburb of Paris, three months later, on February 21, 1944.

In his last letter to his wife on the day of his execution, Manouchian wrote: “What can I write to you? Everything inside me is confused but at the same time clear. I joined the Liberation Army as a volunteer soldier, and am now dying on the threshold of victory and ultimate goal. I wish joy to those who will outlive us and taste the sweetness of tomorrow's freedom and peace."



FOLLOW US



DONATE

DonateforAGMI
TO KEEP THE MEMORY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALIVE

Special Projects Implemented by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation

COPYRIGHT

DonateforAGMI

AGMI BOOKSTORE

1915
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute’s “World of Books”

TESTIMONIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVORS

Testimonial
THE AGMI COLLECTION OF UNPUBLISHED MEMOIRS

ONLINE EXHIBITION

Temporary exhibition
SELF-DEFENSE IN CILICIA DURING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

DEDICATED TO THE CENTENNIAL OF THE SELF-DEFENSE BATTLES OF MARASH, HADJIN, AINTAB

LEMKIN SCHOLARSHIP

Lemkin
AGMI ANNOUNCES 2022
LEMKIN SCHOLARSHIP FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS

TRANSFER YOUR MEMORY

100photo
Share your family story, Transfer your memory to generations.
On the eve of April 24, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute undertakes an initiative “transfer your memory”.
“AGMI” foundation
8/8 Tsitsernakaberd highway
0028, Yerevan, RA
Tel.: (+374 10) 39 09 81
    2007-2021 © The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute     E-mail: info@genocide-museum.am