“The people do not truly know me. I am properly known only by those in my close circle. The rest know me by my beard, by my anger, by my sweat—this is the persona of today. They are afraid of me. They have created a bear-like image for themselves and scare each other with it.”

Vazgen Sargsyan

It seems that almost everything is known about Marshal Vazgen Sargsyan. However, certain episodes of his life remain almost unknown to the public.

Below are 10 facts about Vazgen Sargsyan (1959–1999), the first Minister of Defense of Armenia and a military and political figure.

Literature played an extremely important role in Vazgen Sargsyan’s life. His works were published in the magazines “Garun” and “Soviet Literature”, as well as in the newspapers “Hayastani Ashkhatavoruhi” and “Grakan Tert.”

Vazgen Sargsyan graduated from school and the Yerevan Institute of Physical Culture with honors.

From 1979 to 1983, he worked at a secondary school in Ararat as a physical education teacher.

From 1983 to 1986, Vazgen Sargsyan worked at the Ararat Cement Factory as the secretary of the Komsomol organization.

On August 14, 1997, Vazgen Sargsyan swam across Lake Sevan from one end to the other. He covered the 7 km stretch in 4 hours and 50 minutes.

The decision to cross Sevan was made spontaneously by Sargsyan, inspired by a dream he had seen and recalling that former Azerbaijani President Abulfaz Elchibey had once declared that one day he would wash his feet in Sevan.

A memorial plaque on one of the shores of Sevan notes that Marshal Vazgen Sargsyan was accompanied while swimming by Alexey Trityakov, commander of the Russian Ground Forces. Along the entire route, Sargsyan’s allies—Movses Geghamgulyan, Smbat Hakobyan, and Hakob Hambardzumyan—accompanied him by boat and also recorded the event.

Vazgen Sargsyan never gave in to his emotions, consistently insisting that very little time should be spent on grief or joy. Thanks to this, he was able to regain composure and make important decisions even in the most critical moments.

On September 15, 1997, in an interview published in the “Fourth Estate” newspaper, when asked, “When will you get married?”, Marshal Vazgen Sargsyan replied that he had set himself the goal of doing so in 1997 and had written it in his book in red ink.

He told the journalist that if he marks anything in red ink, he always fulfills it. Later, Vazgen Sargsyan asked the journalist not to publish this, as at the time he was not sure whether he would accomplish it or not.

During his tenure as Minister of Defense, Vazgen Sargsyan used only an official car, as he did not own a personal vehicle. Later, he was gifted a car by Varuzhan Gnuni, who lived in Greece. The car was used solely for official purposes, such as transporting weapons to positions.

Vazgen Sargsyan never owned a personal weapon.

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