Suren Tovmasyan

Suren Hakobi Tovmasyan (Armenian: Սուրեն Հակոբի Թովմասյան; 20 December 1909 (2 January 1910) – 10 February 1980) was a Soviet Armenian politician and diplomat who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia from 1953 to 1960, and later as Soviet ambassador to North Vietnam and to Libya.^[2]

Suren Tovmasyan
Սուրեն Թովմասյան
Suren Tovmasyan monument, Shinuhayr, Syunik Province, Armenia
Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Libya
In office 6 April 1965 – 14 February 1970
Preceded by	Dmitrii Zaikin
Succeeded by	Ivan Yakushin
Ambassador of the Soviet Union to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
In office 10 April 1961 – 7 September 1964
Preceded by	Leonid Sokolov
Succeeded by	Ilya Shcherbakov
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia
In office 30 November 1953[1] – 28 December 1960
Preceded by	Grigory Arutinov
Succeeded by	Yakov Zarobyan
Personal details
Born	Suren Hakobi Tovmasyan 20 December 1909 (2 January 1910) Shinuhayr, Zangezur uezd, Elizavetpol Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	February 10, 1980(1980-02-10) (aged 70) Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Soviet Armenian
Political party	CPSU
Occupation	politician, diplomat

Biography

Born in the village of Shinuhayr in the Syunik region of Armenia,^[2] Tovmasyan rose through the party ranks to become the First Secretary of Armenia at the recommendation of Pyotr Pospelov on 30 November 1953, following the downfall of Grigory Arutinov.^[1] As First Secretary, Tovmasyan oversaw the beginning of the Khrushchev Thaw in Armenia and worked with Anastas Mikoyan to rehabilitate several former political prisoners in the republic.^[3] Following Mikoyan's example, he praised the poet Yeghishe Charents in a speech before the 20th Party Congress.^[4] Tovmasyan was later dismissed from his post in 1960,^[5] and transferred to diplomatic work, serving as Soviet ambassador to North Vietnam from 1961 to 1964 and then as Soviet ambassador to Libya from 1965 to 1970.^[2]