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."