Optical switch-on of silicon carbide thyristors has been demonstrated for the first time. A 2.6 kV 4H-SiC thyristor was switched on by light pulse of an ultraviolet laser with wavelength lambda = 337 nm (photon energy hv = 3.68 eV). The threshold energy of the light pulse, required to turn the thyristor on, was J(th) approximate to 0.75 muJ. At light pulse energy of J = 15 muJ the thyristor is switched on extremely fast. The characteristic current rise time was only 3 ns, i.e. 30 times shorter than that in the conventional gate-controlled mode.