Armenia: Karekin Pastermadjian (1872-1923), better known by his nom de guerre Armen Garo, was a...

Karekin Pastermadjian was born in Karin (present day Erzurum Province). He finished his elementary education as one of the first graduates of the Sanasarian College of Erzerum (Sanasarian Varjaran Academy) in 1891. Later in 1894, he continued his studies in France to study agriculture at the Agricultural School of Nancy-Universite. During this period he was introduced to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and became part of the younger generation of Armenian students of ARF in Europe. In the spring of 1917, when the Russian Revolution affected the Caucasus, Armen Garo was sent from the Caucasus to Petrograd to negotiate with the Russian provisional government concerning Caucasian affairs. He left for America in June 1917 as the representative of the Armenian National Council of Tiflis. He was elected to be ambassador of the First Republic of Armenia to the United States in Washington, D.C