Parsegh Shahbaz

Parsegh Shahbaz (; June 1883 – 1915) was an Ottoman Armenian lawyer, political activist, journalist, and columnist. He was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. During the Armenian genocide, Shahbaz was deported to Çankırı and then Harput where he was killed.

Biography

"What a pathetic "situational lie" Politics is! How idiotic people are! What is war, what is the state, what is revolution? Why should a few people suffer to revolutionize, and others suffer to restrain them? Why should the youth of some nation be tormented, to kill tormented youth of some other nation? Who has given the right to a class of people to say that this piece of land is "theirs", or that piece of land is "others’ ". Who has given borders? Ahh, idiotic people who pass by life ignorantly, without knowing how to live it, and instead of simplifying it, complicate things, change the Dream into [childbirth] Pain, and would like the "Seas of tears" to become "lakes of tears" at all costs." — Parsegh Shahbaz (original in Armenian) He received his early education in Constantinople in the Armenian schools of Mayr Varjaran, Getronagan, and Mkhitarian. He then continued his education in Venice, Italy at the San Lazzaro degli Armeni. Grag, the Mdrag Periodical, and Hachyun.

Death On 24 April 1915, Parsegh Shahbaz was arrested in Istanbul in the middle of the night deportation of Armenian notables during the Armenian genocide.

Shahabaz was deported to Ayash along with other Armenian intellectuals. He was sent to M. Aziz, where it was believed that Shahbaz was "murdered in the road between Harput and Malatya." In a letter to Miss. Zaruhi Bahri and Evgine Khachigian, Shahbaz wrote from Aintab on 6 July 1915 that due to his wounded feet and stomach aches, he would rest for 6–7 days until he had to continue the 8–10 days journey to M. Aziz. But he had no idea why he was sent there.