Did You Know? (26)

By Jirair Tutunjian, Toronto, 10 November 2022

Following the Genocide of Armenians, fifty Armenian orphan boys were taken from Corfu, Greece to Canada in 1923. They were placed at a farm home set up in Georgetown, Ontario (northwest of Toronto). The farm came to be known as the Armenian Boy’s Farm Home. A second group of orphans followed in 1924. A third group of eight boys and two girls, were brought from Lebanon. By 1927, a total of 109 boys and 29 girls were lodged at the farm. They came to be known as the Georgetown Boys.

Armenian author Gomidas Kheomurjian was found innocent of the charge of high treason on Oct. 25, 1707 by a Turkish court. But to save him from assassination by political foes, he was sentenced to be decapitated.

The first known Armenian to live in what is now the United States was “Martin the Armenian” who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1618.

Hagop Vardovian was a famed Ottoman actor and stage director. He debuted in 1861 at the Eastern Theatre that staged Armenian plays. He established and ran a number of theatres that brought him fame. By a decree of Abdul-Hamid he joined the palace orchestra in 1882.  He converted to Islam and changed his name to Gyulli Hakob Effendi. He became Muslim nominally and never cut off his connection with the Armenian community. He married an Armenian woman who became his second wife. They had a son (Nejip) who became a famous violinist and director of the Turkish Symphonic Orchestra. During Ataturk’s reign; he adopted the name Asken. Nejip Asken’s son was Prof. Yugel Asken who was a scientist and university rector.

According to R. Gayre, author of “Gayre Miscellaneous Racial Studies—1943-1972”, ancient Egypt was essentially a penetration of Caucasoid racial elements into Africa. This civilization grew out of the settlement of Mediterranean, Armenoid, and even Nordic strains.

The last stronghold of Hittite power coincided with the rise of Lesser Armenia and Commagene (Kammakh in Armenian). Kammakh’s capital was the fortress city of Ani-Kammakh. During Hellenistic times it was ruled by the Ardashesian King Antiochus II of Commagene where he built the remarkable megalith statues and an enormous temple.

Hatti/Hittite/Phrygian/Armenian. According to Peter Albrecht Jensen, president of the Royal Assyrological Society of Imperial Germany, the word Hatti is the same word as Hye (Armenian). He was the first archeologist and decipherer of the Hittite language. There’s the same morphological change of “matar” to the Armenian “mayr”.  “From everything we know of the Hittite language it is Armenian, to be more precise, Old Armenian,” said Jensen. Herodotus, suffering from a pro-Hellenic bias, assumed the Armenians had to be Phrygian colonists. The Hittite religion, mythology, language, customs, rituals, and dress show an Armenian continuity. The Hittite royal adornments are almost exactly like that of Ardashesian and Yervanduni dynasties.

Since the beginning of the 19^th century many Armenians have researched the Turkish lexicography. The first etymological dictionary of the Turkish language was written by Bedros Keresteciyan. Another Armenian (Agop Martayan) published a Turkish language dictionary. Linguist Sevan Nisanyan is famous for his etymological Turkish dictionary which is named after him. He was imprisoned for “Insulting Islam” but fled to Greece.

Recep Erdogan was imprisoned for reciting in Siirt (Dec. 1997) ultranationalist Zoya Gokulp’s poem:

“The mosques are our barracks,
The domes our helmets,
The minarets our bayonets,
And the faithful our soldiers.”

Gabriel Kazanjian invented the hair dryer in 1908 while Armenian Genocide survivor Asatur Sarafyan (Oscar Banker) invented the automatic transmission in 1931. Arthur Bibulyan was granted license (No. 2.348.108) for inventing an oxygen mask for U.S Air Force pilots.