In Search of the ARF’s 1908 Istanbul Headquarters

Varak Ketsemanian and Daniel Ohanian

 

Of the plethora of contexts from which the history of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is inextricable, that of the late 19^th-/early 20^th -century Ottoman Empire is among the most important. As a prominent political party, the ARF came to the forefront of Ottoman politics particularly after the July 1908 Constitutional—or Young Turk—Revolution, in which it played an important role. While it had had underground cells, secret meeting places, and an organizational network in Istanbul (Constantinople) since its founding in 1890, it was the political liberty brought about by this revolution that allowed the ARF to operate openly in the imperial capital.¹

From Constantinople to LA: Three Centuries of Western Armenian Theater

Aram Kouyoumdjian

This past fall, at a conference on “Armenian Art and Culture in the Ottoman Empire Before 1915,” I presented a paper entitled “Arrested Development: Western Armenian Theater in the Nineteenth Century.” The paper examined the emergence of Western Armenian theater in Constantinople – or “Bolis” – amidst a period of national awakening known as “Zartonk” and of linguistic transition from classical to vernacular Armenian.

As I delved into my research, I could not help contemplating that in all of Los Angeles there had been two – just two – productions in Western Armenian the whole year, and that both of them had direct links to 19th-century Constantinople: the Krikor Satamian Theater Company’s rendition of “Shoghokort” (The Flatterer) by Hagop Baronian was written in that time and place, while my own revival of “Hin Asdvadzner” (Ancient Gods) adapted an iconic work by Levon Shant, who was born in Bolis and spent formative years there prior to the Genocide.

Women's Inactivity

Srpouhi Dussap

Translated by Jennifer Manoukian

The following is a translation of an article by Srpouhi Dussap, published in August 1882.

Srpouhi Dussap (née Vahanian) was the first Armenian woman novelist and the first Armenian writer—male or female—to address the social struggles particular to Armenian women. Born in 1842 in Constantinople, Dussap came of age during a period of cultural reawakening for Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, during which women began to carve out a place for themselves in the public sphere. One of these pioneering women was Dussap’s mother, Nazli Vahan, a staunch advocate for women’s education and the founder of charitable and educational organizations to help Armenian girls.

"Jewels of Devotion and Self-Sacrifice": Ottoman Armenian Women as Teachers

Jennifer Manoukian

 

The Armenian press in the late Ottoman Empire was the site of heated debates among writers and intellectuals, who would rip apart each other’s arguments and attack each other’s character with a ferociousness that might surprise even the most jaded, twenty-first century reader. The article above sparked a lengthy debate on education in the pages of the Constantinople-based newspaper Massis. While keeping its focus on the unique challenges facing young female teachers, the article also touches on thorny gender and class inequalities that inflamed some Armenian intellectuals and drove them to air their vitriol in a series of responses to the article.

An Armenian Supernova in Mexico: Astronomer Marie Paris Pishmish

Jennifer Manoukian

 



Dr. Marie Paris Pishmish, a Turkish-Armenian astronomer who played an instrumental role in establishing the study of modern astronomy in Mexico, embodies a kind of woman who has been embraced wholeheartedly in her profession and regarded as a leader in her field by men and women alike. Despite the prevailing norms of her era, she succeeded in becoming a leading voice in the field of astronomy.

As If the Ottoman Period Never Ended

Dan Bilefsky

 



Since the lavish, feel-good Turkish epic “Conquest 1453” had its premiere this year, its tale of the taking of Constantinople by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II has become the highest-grossing film in Turkey’s history, released in 12 countries across the Middle East and in Germany and the United States. But its biggest impact may be the cultural triumphalism it has magnified at home.

Teotig: The First Historian of Armenian Printing

Vartan Matiossian

The name Teotig meant little to the English reader until the recent publication of volume II of Rita Soulahian Kuyumdjian’s Trilogy – April 24, 1915, which includes Teotig’s biography and Soulahian Kuyumdjian’s translation of Monument to April 11, Teotig’s compilation of biographies of intellectuals who were victims of the Genocide.

Archag & Anahid: Cultivating Armenian Literature in France

Jennifer Manoukian

With so much attention focused on the French-Armenian community in recent weeks, it is an excellent time to remember the role that France once played as the center of Armenian literary and cultural activity in the diaspora.