Artin Madoyan

Artin Madoyan (born 10 April 1904 in Adana

Youth Madoyan was the son of a refugee shoe-maker from Adana. In his youth Madoyan was a Huntchag, but later became a communist.

Underground work Madoyan established links with Sultan al-Atrash and cooperated in arms smuggling between Beirut and Jebel Druze during the 1925-1927 Syrian revolt. Madoyan and Lebanese Yusuf Yazbek were arrested by French mandatory authorities in 1926. They were both imprisoned on the Arwad island, Syria, until 1928. Madoyan proposed towards Comintern the formation of a federation of Arab communist parties with a common leadership, but this idea was not approved by the Comintern leadership due to security concerns.

1934 election Madoyan contested the Beirut Armenian Orthodox seat in the 1934 Lebanese parliamentary election. He stood on the same list as Saadeddine Moumne (also a Communist Party member) and Ibrahim Haddad.

Joint Secretariat The Syrian-Lebanese Communist Party was divided into separate Lebanese and Syrian parties in 1944 (albeit still in a union of sorts). However, in August 1950 the decision to split the parties was reversed, with the formation of a joint secretariat for both Syria and Lebanon. The secretariat consisted of Bakdash, Madoyan and Hasan Qraytim.

1951 election Ahead of the 1951 parliamentary election, Madoyan was again fielded as a candidate for a Beirut Armenian Orthodox seat. He obtained 2,765 votes (12.6% of the cast votes in Beirut).

In 1954 Madoyan along with Qraitim, al-Hulo and Shawi signed a party statement. As the party was banned at the time, the Lebanese government charged Madoyan and the other signatories under martial law. They were given 1-month prison sentences in absentia.

20th Soviet party congress In 1956 Madoyan attended the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union along with Bakdash, Shawi and Yusuf Faisal.

Civil War During the Lebanese Civil War Madoyan represented the Lebanese Communist Party at the meetings of Armenian political parties, along with Barouyr Yeretsian and Garnik Addarian.

Autobiography Madoyan's autobiography was 'A Life on the Barricade: Memories and Testimonies' was published in Arabic in 1986 (Hayat 'ala al-Mitras: dhikrayat wa-mushahadat) and in Armenian in 1988 (Gyank me badneshi vra: husher yev vgaiutiunner).