Stepan
Shaumyan, the son of an Armenian merchant, was born in 1878. While
studying at Riga Polytechnic he joined the Social
Democratic Party.
Arrested
for taking part in student politics, Shaumyan was exiled to the Caucasus.
He escaped and went to live in Germany where he met George
Plekhanov, Vladimir Lenin and Julius
Martov
Shaumyan
returned to the Caucasus where he became a teacher and the leader
of the Bolshevik in Tiflis. In 1907
he moved to Baku where he helped to build up and lead the workers'
movement.
After the
February Revolution Shaumyan he was elected
chairman of the Baku Soviet. He took part in the October
Revolution and joined the Communist Party Central Committee.
In March,
1918, there was a Muslim uprising in Baku. Shaumyan and 25 other Baku
commissars fled but were arrested by British troops in Krasnovodsk.
Stepan Shaumyan was executed on 20th September, 1918.
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