Sophie Areshian

Sophie Areshian (Armenian: Սոֆի Արեշյան; 1881, in Tbilisi – 1971, in Montreal), also known by her pseudonym of Rubina, was an Armenian revolutionary and fedayi. She joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) after meeting several leaders of the organization in Baku, she became politically aligned with the far left under their influence. She quickly earned the trust and friendship of Christapor Mikaelian, one of the organization's founders, and was invited to participate in Operation Nejuik, which aimed to assassinate Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the principal orchestrator of the Hamidian massacres that resulted in the deaths of between 100,000 and 300,000 Armenians. Areshian became deeply involved in the project and took on a central role in its execution, especially after Mikaelian's death. She was responsible for setting up the bombs for detonation and activating the timer during the culmination of the plot, the Abdul Hamid II assassination attempt in Yıldız.

Sentenced to death in absentia, Areshian became a prominent figure within the ARF over time, with the failures of the plot being attributed to her rival within the commando, Martiros Margarian. She later accompanied other ARF leaders during their arrest by the Russian Empire, which led to her own imprisonment. After her release, she visited Hamo Ohanjanian, the future Prime Minister of Armenia, in Siberia and married him there. She also played an active role in founding the Hamazkayin network, the leading network of Armenian diaspora schools.

Her memory, largely forgotten and obscured, was revived in the early 21st century by Gaïdz Minassian and Houri Berberian.