Missak Manouchian

Missak Manouchian is one of the well-known heroes of the French Resistance, a survivor of the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide. During the Second World War he led one of the most effective underground groups in France, which operated in Paris and struck at the Nazi occupiers.

Manouchian was born in 1906 in the village of Adiyaman in Western Armenia. In 1915 his father was killed during the Armenian Genocide, and his mother died during the forced flight. Orphaned, Missak and his brother ended up first in Syria and then spent five years in an Armenian orphanage in Lebanon. In 1925 he emigrated to France, living first in Marseille and later settling in Paris. Together with his wife Mélinée Manouchian, he took an active part in the anti-fascist struggle.

The photograph shows a man with a moustache, wearing a cap and a double-breasted coat.