Georgy Ter-Gazaryants passed away

03.01.2024

On December 31, at the age of 101, the famous Soviet political figure, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR and the Russian Federation Georgy Artashesovich Ter-Gazaryants passed away.

“A legendary figure, a front-line soldier. He lived a bright, eventful life. He was born on March 10, 1923 and passed away on the last day of the outgoing year, 2023. His memory will forever remain in the hearts of those who knew Georgy Artashesovich, worked with him side by side or was his friend”, the website of the Union of Armenians reports.

Georgy Artashesovich was born in Baku. On June 20, 1941, the young man received a certificate of secondary education and was about to enter the law faculty at the university. However, the Great Patriotic War broke these plans. In early July, he was drafted into the Red Army, and a train took young recruits from Baku to the war. The 155th cadet rifle brigade, where Georgy Ter-Gazaryants served, retreating and suffering heavy losses in fierce battles, was stuck near the Main Caucasian Ridge at Nizhnyaya Saniba not far from Vladikavkaz. An attempt to cross the Main Caucasian Ridge to Sukhumi by the German mountain division “Edelweiss” failed. The 155th brigade threw it back. In the battles for the defense of the Caucasus, Georgy Ter-Gazaryants earned a reputation of a brave and steadfast warrior. In the fall of 1942, the 19-year-old soldier was awarded the Medal “For Courage”. In 1943, Lieutenant Ter-Gazaryants fought on Malaya Zemlya near Novorossiysk. Here he became a marine, took part in the liberation of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, and other cities and towns in the south of the country. On November 10, 1944, he received the Medal “For the Defense of the Caucasus”. He met the victory with the rank of Guard Captain.

After the war, he was sent to study at the Lenin Military Political Academy, after graduating in 1950, he was appointed an assistant for Komsomol work to the head of the political department of the 89th Red Banner Armenian Taman Rifle Division stationed in Yerevan. In the autumn of 1950, at the next congress of the Komsomol of Armenia, Georgi Ter-Ghazaryants was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Armenian LKSM. Then he had to part with his military career: a new page in his life began – the formation of a public and political figure, where he could demonstrate his outstanding organizational skills.

From 1950 to 1987, he held such high posts as: First Secretary of the Central Committee of the LKSM of Armenia; Head of the Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League for Relations with Youth Organizations of Socialist Countries; Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia; Member of the Military Council of the 7th Guards Army (Transcaucasian Military District); Member of the Military Council of the Baku Air Defense District; Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to Senegal and Gambia concurrently; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to Zimbabwe. There he opened the USSR Embassy and during his 6 years in Zimbabwe laid the foundations for friendly relations between the countries, which made it possible to significantly expand the areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic, cultural and trade areas.

Georgy Artashesovich’s ability to work with people, attention and care for them earned him recognition and respect. His vast experience as an organizer and high-ranking manager were in demand in the field of copyright. On March 10, 1987, he was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the All-Union Agency for Copyright Protection (VAAP) in Moscow. In Soviet times, VAAP united all areas of copyright. Since 1974, the agency has been a member of CISAC—the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, which unites most foreign organizations for collective right management. In 1977, VAAP was one of the three founders and organizers of the Moscow International Book Fair, which is still held annually in August or September. On August 12, 1993, under the law “On Copyright and Related Rights”, VAAP was reorganized by authors and their heirs into the Russian Authors’ Society with the status of a public organization, as is customary in most foreign countries. Thus, Georgy Artashesovich for 17 years successively held the positions of first deputy chairman of VAAP, chairman of the board and vice-president of RAO. During these years, he became one of the most competent Russian specialists in the field of copyright and made a lot of efforts to ensure that authors received decent compensation even in the difficult 1990s, when the country was just beginning to switch to new economic rails and there was no clear legislation yet, and piracy was flourishing.

Since 2004, Georgy Artashesovich was the first vice-president of the All-Russian public organization “Union of Armenians of Russia”, where he continued to carry out extensive public work.

He was awarded many orders and medals.

Georgy Artashesovich was an active, energetic, very passionate person, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to every activity he was involved in. We express our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Blessed memory…