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Shushanik

Armenian Christian martyr

SaintKingdom of IberiaPre-congregation

Feast: 17 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born

440

Died

475

Beatified

—

not needed: before formal processes

Canonised

By tradition

recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Shushanik (Armenian: Շուշանիկ; Georgian: შუშანიკი; c. 440 – 475), also known as Shushanika or Vardandukht, was a Christian Armenian woman who was tortured to death by her husband Varsken in the town of Tsurtavi, Georgia. Since she died defending her right to profess Christianity, she is regarded as a martyr. Her martyrdom is described in her confessor Jacob’s hagiographic work, the oldest extant work of Georgian language literature. The hagiography details Shushanik's extensive resistance to imprisonment, isolation, torture and cruelty.

Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), until this page is written up in full.

The miracles

Limited information available on this saint.

Why that counted as sanctity

Limited information available on this saint.

Connected on this site

Vardan Mamikonian Saint Parent, Father
“According to this legend, Shushanik was a daughter of the Armenian military commander Vardan Mamikonian and married the Mihranid ruler (pitiakhsh) Varsken, son of Arshusha II.” — Wikipedia

Sources

Wikidata Q266278 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
English Wikipedia — Shushanik (CC BY-SA)

Not yet written up in full: no Church source with an account of this person has been found yet. The name, dates and step come from Wikidata and are not yet checked against Church records.