Yerevan Sculpture 2: Vartan Mamikonian
Monumant to Vartan Mamikonian, designed by Ervand Kochar (1975), photo by Vahan Bego 2006 ................................................................................................................................................................................................
Like David of Sasun, Vartan Mamikonian is a symbol of Armenian independence.
Hamazasp Mamikonian was recorded as the family leader in 393. His wife is known to have been Sahakanoush, daughter of Saint Sahak the Great and descendant of the Arsacid kings. They had a son, Saint Vartan Mamikonian, who is revered as one of the greatest military and spiritual leaders of ancient Armenia.By choosing as his subject the warrior who began the fight against Persian assimilation, Ervand Kochar signaled Armenia's silent, stony resistance to Russian imperialism in the twentieth century, in the guise of Soviet communism.After Vartan became Sparapet in 432, the Persians summoned him to Ctesiphon, forcing him to convert to Zoroastrianism. Upon his return to home in 450, Vartan repudiated the Persian religion and instigated a great Armenian rebellion against their Sassanian overlords. Although he died in the doomed Battle of Vartanantz (451), the continued insurrection led by Vahan Mamikonian, the son of Vartan's brother, resulted in the restoration of Armenian autonomy with the Nvarsak Treaty (484), thus guaranteeing the survival of Armenian statehood in later centuries. [from Wikipedia]
