Krikor Zohrab

Armenian writer and politician

Krikor Zohrab (; 26 June 1861 – 1915) was an influential Armenian writer, politician, and lawyer from Constantinople. At the onset of the Armenian genocide he was arrested by the Turkish government and sent to appear before a military court in Diyarbakır. En route, at a locality called Karaköprü or Şeytanderesi on the outskirts of Urfa, he was murdered by a band of known brigands under the leadership of Çerkez Ahmet, Halil and Nazım some time between 15 July and 20 July 1915.

Zohrab was born into a wealthy family in Beşiktaş, Constantinople on 26 June 1861. His early education was completed at a local Armenian Catholic school. He received a civil engineering degree from Galatasaray Institute, but did not work in that field. Instead, he enrolled in a newly opened law school, the Imperial University of Jurisprudence (today: Istanbul University Faculty of Law), and received his law degree in 1882. Zohrab was a revered lawyer in the courts of the Ottoman Empire. He became a professor at the university, teaching law. At the age of 27, Zohrab married Clara Yazejian, and fathered two daughters and two sons. One of the daughters, Dolores Zohrab Liebmann, eventually became an American philanthropist. Krikor Zohrab defended successfully many Armenians charged with a variety of political and criminal offenses between 1895 96. As a result of his defense of a Bulgarian revolutionary in the course of which he accused a Turkish official of torture, he was disbarred and forced to live abroad. This would be the last time they would meet. Some integrants within his immediate circle strongly encouraged him to leave the country, but Zohrab refused. but Talaat Pasha insisted on having the pair court martialed. They were then dispatched to Urfa and remained there for some time in the house of a Turkish deputy friend. Later, they were taken under police escort and taken to Diyarbakır by car. They were murdered by the well known band of brigands led by Cherkes Ahmet, Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karaköprü or Şeytanderesi in the outskirts of Urfa, some time between 15 July and 20 July 1915. The murderers were tried and executed in Damascus by Cemal Pasha in September 1915, and the assassinations became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo.