Vahe Boghosian
During my time at the British Library working on the Asian and
African Collection backlog cataloguing project I have come across a
number of thought-provoking printed works in the Armenian Collection.
The following post describes three examples which for me highlight the
fascinating adaptability and ever changing nature of diasporas. They
describe Armenian communities which reached their zenith long ago, and
are now seldom remembered, but at the same time they exemplify a
willingness to embrace the host culture while remembering and respecting
their own cultural roots.
The title page and portrait of Doctor Sarkis Tateosian Avedumiants in Ardi Hndkahay Bzhiskner: Masn A. Vienna: Mkhit’arean Tparan, 1896 (BL 17033.d.23(7))
Ardi Hndkahay Bzhiskner ‘Modern Armenian Doctors’ by Doctor
Vahram Y. Torgomian (BL 17033.d.23(7)) printed in 1896 by the Mkhitarian
Press, Vienna, describes the lives of Armenian Indian doctors. One of
the more interesting life stories in the book is that of Doctor Sarkis
Avedumiants, who was born in 1854 in Calcutta and baptised in Saint
Nazareth Armenian church of Calcutta. He attended the La Martinière
School, Calcutta — where there were many Armenian students — and was
awarded a gold medal for excellence. He subsequently graduated from St.
Thomas’ Hospital in London in 1879 before training with the military in
Britain and then returning to India as a British army doctor.
contributing to campaigns in Afghanistan and Baluchistan. He achieved
high ranks within the army becoming the Commander in Chief of the Bombay
Army and Surgeon Major in addition to receiving many awards. He
afterwards continued his medical studies, studying at Royal London
Ophthalmic Hospital and publishing research on combatting dysentery in
the British Medical Journal. Dr Avedumiants’ career is
described in detail in the book but, published at a time of growing
political consciousness, is interpreted from a nationalistic point of
view in terms of an achievement of an Armenian in India that Armenians
should be proud of.
Dr Avedumiants’ record can also be found in the India Office Records
at the British Library under the name Sarkies Thaddeus Avetoom (
L/MIL/9/408 f.129).
The
coat of arms on the left is Diana Apcar’s rendition of a potential coat
of arms for an independent Armenian nation. Notice the elements of
Armenian culture she highlights in the drawing compared with the coat of
arms of the modern Armenian Republic and the 1918 Armenian Republic. The Japanese text gives the publication details: printed 15 May in year 43 in the Meiji period (1910) by the Japan Gazette in Yokohama (BL 08028.ddd.24)
My second title is ‘Betrayed Armenia’, a pamphlet by Diana Apcar
published in 1910 by the Japan Gazette in Yokohama (BL 08028.ddd.24).
Having married into the famous Apcar trading dynasty the author lived in
Yokohama, Japan and spent a lot of her time trying to raise awareness
of the conditions of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently she
did humanitarian work before becoming the Armenian ambassador to Japan
in 1920 after Armenia’s independence. The author specifies that this
second edition was intended for circulation in the United States in
consequence of the massacre of Armenians in 1909 in Adana. Linking
events closely to Armenia’s ancient Christian tradition, she writes, for
example, ‘that Armenians may be led again “as sheep to the slaughter”
and the work of extermination may be completed’, a prophecy which would
become an unfortunate reality in 1915 and subsequent years. My
fascination with this text, however, is less concerned with the content
than the context. Publishing in Japan, Apcar demonstrated an ability to
adapt to the local environment despite being so far from her homeland.
The distance from Armenia did not deter her ‘diaspora nationalism’ and
appreciation for her ancient culture.[1] It is the passion of this Japanese-Armenian author which makes this printed work so special.
The
Lise Teferi Magoneni School students and their Armenian teachers. The
teacher on the left is Kevork Nalbandian, a prominent Armeno-Ethiopian
musician who taught at the school and wrote the music for the Imperial
Ethiopian National Anthem[2]. From Ardi Et’ovpian ew Hay Gaghut’ ě. Venice: S.Ghazar, 1930 (BL HEC.1994.a.509)
My final choice is Ardi Et’ovpian ew Hay Gaghut’ ě ‘Modern
Ethiopia and the Armenian Community’ (BL HEC.1994.a.509). Like many
works in the Armenian collection, it was printed in 1930 in Venice in
the famous Saint Ghazar printing press. The first half of the book
describes in detail Ethopia’s politics, society, economics, culture and
religion. The second half explores the Armenian community in Ethiopia
detailing the lives of prominent Ethiopian-Armenians in fields as
diverse as religion, economics, government, education, the military,
artists, musicians and commerce.
The book includes a brief Armenian-Ethiopian dictionary of 1300
words. Here the Armenian word is given on the left followed by the
Ethiopian word in Ethiopian script in the middle, and a phonetic
transcription of the Ethiopian word in Armenian script on the right.
An Armenian-Ethiopian wordlist (BL HEC.1994.a.509)
Armenian emigration is much older than the exodus following the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 as is shown by two of the examples above. In
time the communities adapted to modern political-economic circumstances
and either assimilated or emigrated once again. This has led to the near
extinction of long established communities in India and Ethiopia and
the Armenian presence in Japan is hardly remembered at all. Nonetheless,
new diaspora communities have arisen in many more locations globally.
Tragic as it is that many prestigious communities have been forgotten,
their achievements and existence survive through their literary works
preserved, for example, at the British Library and are available for
anyone who wishes to remember them.
I am grateful to Momoko Sekido and Eyob Derillo for their assistance in translating Japanese and Amharic script respectively."Asian and African Studies Blog" (blogs.bl.uk), February 27, 2017
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[1] For more on diaspora nationalism see Smith, Anthony et al., The Call Of The Homeland. Leiden: Brill, 2010 and Anderson, Benedict R. O'G., Imagined Communities. London: Verso, 1991.
[2] For more on Kevork Nalbandian and the Royal Imperial Brass Band formed of Armenian orphans ‘Arba Lijoch’ see ‘In The Company of Emperors: The Story of Ethiopian Armenians’.
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