Tiflis Governorate
Khatisian was born in Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi), Georgia). He served as the mayor of Tiflis (Tbilisi) from 1910 to 1917. During this period Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov consulted with him, the primate of Tbilisi, Bishop Mesrop Der-Movsesian, and the prominent civic leader Dr. Hakob Zavriev about the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments in the summer of 1914.