BY ARUNANSH B. GOSWAMI
Like Indians, Armenians have a long history of emigration, resettlement, and the creation of influential diasporas in different parts of the world, particularly in the case of the latter in Europe. As merchants, Armenians connected the Orient with the Occident and prospered by utilizing lucrative trade opportunities by using their phenomenal business acumen and deep understanding of Oriental societies that produced several tradable goods that were in high demand in Europe, including spices, coffee, and textiles. Did you know the Armenian Matthias van Erevan is credited with founding the first coffee house in Amsterdam in 1673?
Known for their peaceful nature and gamut of talents, Armenians were mostly received cordially by locals as a valuable addition to local societies, and as human bridges between the East and West. They were also permitted to build Armenian churches. Many of these immigrant Armenians spoke local languages, but also preserved their very own Armenian language and script. Even when Armenia lost statehood and independence, the Armenian diaspora preserved the Armenian culture and tried to achieve independence for their homeland. I have visited, and studied. various Armenian diaspora communties, in different countries and regions in the world, including Central Asia, Egypt, Russia, Türkiye, Israel, and recently Western Europe. This article is an outcome of my journey in the Netherlands, and France where I learned more about the Armenian diaspora in Europe.
Arunansh Goswami at the historic Armenian Church in Amsterdam. Photo Credit: Arunansh B. Goswami
A day after Christmas, I went to the Armenian Church in Amsterdam to meet Madam Anna Maria Mattaar, who is building an Armenian library in the basement of the Church and speaks fluent Armenian. Amsterdam has a special place in the history of the Armenian diaspora. In 1695, it was in Amsterdam, in the Armenian printing house founded by Tovmas Vanandetsi, that the first printed map of the world—Hamatarats Ashkharhatsuyts (Geographic Map of the World)—was published. It is the first printed map in the Armenian language ever produced and, after more than two and half years of work, the printing of the first edition of the Armenian Bible—the Voskanyan Bible—was finished in this very city in 1668. The book consists of 1462 two-column pages with 159 illustrations by the Dutch artist Christoffel van Sichem (1581-1658).
In Amsterdam, I learned from the description provided by R. Bekius that from 1600 onwards, Amsterdam and the Netherlands developed into the center of world trade. The city had a great shortage of labor. Armenian merchants came to Amsterdam in waves, around 1660, 1710, and 1750. Armenians settled in the Lastage, the area bordered by the Oude and Kromme Waal, Oude Schans, St. Anthoniebreestraat, Nieuwmarkt, and the Geldersekade. They chose this area because of its proximity to the harbour and the presence of lodgings and warehouses.
The Armenian Church in Amsterdam. Photo Credit: Arunansh B. Goswami
After the signing of the first trade treaty between the Netherlands and Persia, the Dutch East India Company wanted to ship silk to the Netherlands under the treaty. Armenian brokers bought silk for the VOC, and Armenian interpreters were used as intermediaries. The word “Persian” became a common expression for an Armenian merchant. Hubert Visnich, one of the chief merchants of the VOC, married an Armenian woman who bore him two sons. In accordance with the trade treaty, Dutch people who died in Persia have been buried at the Armenian cemetery in New Julfa.
On May 28, 1714, Babasan di Sultan and Nicolaes Theodoor, as churchwardens, bought a warehouse in the Lastage on the Dwarsboomssloot between the Keizersstraat and the house on the Noordwestzijde. Forty Armenian merchants, mostly from New Julfa, from where most Indian-Armenians arrived from, guaranteed the purchase and conversion of the warehouse into an Armenian church, called “Surp Hoki” or Holy Spirit. The exterior of the church at the time is depicted in a print by Jan de Beijer from 1755 and in a print by Fouquet from 1783. This is not the first Armenian house of prayer in the city. There is a mention of an Armenian church in 1668 in the Keizersstraat. This is in all probability the residence of the bishop Voskan Erevanc’i.
Arunansh Goswam at the former headquarters of Dutch East India Company (VOC). Photo Credit: Arunansh B. Goswami
The second mention of an Armenian church comes from the year 1703. This time, it is the residence of the Armenian priest Ugoerloe on the Koningsdwarsstraat. When the latter location was moved to the Krom Boomssloot in 1714, it was notarially recorded which objects belonged to it in the inventory that was moved along. These objects were later depicted in print on the altar in the publication of Wagenaars “Amsterdam in zijne komt” from 1783.
Priest Johannes Di Minàs, originally from the city of Amasia in the Ottoman Empire, served at Surp Hoki Church in Amsterdam since 1733. In 1749, he personally paid for the embellishment of the outer facade of the Armenian church. A stone facade with Armenian text was placed above the outer door of the church, mentioning the benefactor and his deceased parents. The priest himself lived on the first floor. On January 23, 1768, priest Di Minàs was buried in grave no. 444 in the Oude Kerk. Other Armenians and their family members from that time were also buried there. Apart from the Netherlands, the Armenian community in France has also been quite strong, prosperous and influential.
Arunansh Goswami standing near the tomb of General Andranik Ozanian. Photo Credit: Arunansh B. Goswami
France and Armenia have traditionally been friendly towards one another, and Paris is connected with the history of Armenian freedom fighters, like General Andranik Ozanian, and Boghos Nubar—son of the former prime minister of Egypt Nubar Pasha whose mausoleum I visited in Alexandria Egypt, and have written about for Asbarez in the past. Paris is also associated with the legacy of French-Armenian anti-Nazi resistance fighter Missak Manouchian, as well as his wife Melinee Manouchian. I visited their tombs in the Pantheon in Paris.
From 1919 to 1922, General Andranik, known as “Zoravar Hayots,” traveled around Europe and the United States seeking support for Armenian refugees. He visited Paris, where he tried to persuade the Allied powers to liberate Western Armenia, which had been occupied by the Turks. In 1919, during his visit to France, General Andranik was bestowed the title of “Légion d’Honneur” by President Raymond Poincaré. In late 1919, General Andranik led a delegation to the United States to lobby its support for a mandate for Armenia and fundraising for the Armenian army. He was accompanied by General Jaques Bagratuni and Hovhannes Katchaznouni. In Fresno, he directed a campaign which raised $500,000 for the relief of Armenian war refugees.
Charles Aznavour (far right) with Gubukciyan, the owner of “Pizza Firenze” in France
It was in Paris where General Andranik married Nevarte Kurkjian, on May 15, 1922, and where he was buried before his remains were transported from Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris to Armenia by an Armenian delegation, led by interior minister Hayk Harutunian. After arriving in Paris, I went to this cemetery to see the tomb and equestrian statue of General Andranik. Near his tomb are tombs of several other Armenians that can still be seen by visitors.
Boghos Nubar Pasha also led the movement for the protection of human rights of Armenians. He led an Armenian diaspora delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, and was one of the founders and chairman of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, and a leader in the Armenian National Movement. Boghos Nubar established both the Maison des Étudients Armeniens, a university residence for Armenians studying in Paris, and the Nubar Library to preserve Western Armenian literature.
Charles Aznavour, whose 100th birthday was celebrated last year, was a prominent French-Armenian. I decided to have lunch at a restaurant called “Pizza Firenze,” founded by Gubukciyan, an Italian-Armenian who in the past welcomed Charles Aznavour himself to his eatery. France deeply values its relations with Armenia and even now has been one of the strongest supporters of it.
Travelling around Europe, individuals can visit several sites associated with Armenian heritage from the Low Countries to Iberia and from the Balkans to Scandinavia. Wherever Armenians went, they contributed to the larger prosperity of their adoptive homelands and they continue to do so. Visiting and writing about sites associated with Armenians in different parts of the world helps in preserving and promoting Armenian culture and, hence, it is especially important for Armenian youth to visit the sites mentioned in this article and write about them. I would like to thank scholars, including Madam Anna Maria Mataar, who are actively preserving Armenian heritage in Europe.
Arunansh B. Goswami is an author, historian and advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He is a member of the Bar Association of Delhi and the Supreme Court Bar Association in India. Goswami has written on the history, culture and politics of various countries in several national and international publications. He is a visiting fellow of the L.A. Orbeli Institute of Physiology NAS RA in Armenia.
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