Birth of Maria Jacobsen (November 6, 1882)

Maria Jacobsen in Lebanon and Karen Jeppe in Syria. Two Danish missionaries among several colleagues who became surrogate mothers to the Armenian orphans who had survived the genocide, selflessly offering their entire life to them. In the meantime, they also became living testimony of what had happened in 1915.

Jacobsen was born in the town of Siim (central Denmark) on November 6, 1882. During her childhood, she lived in the town of Horsens, on the eastern coast of the country, with her parents. She learned about the Hamidian massacres (1895-1896) from the Danish media. Feminist activist Jessie Penn-Lewis, coming to Denmark from England in 1898, helped form the Women’s Missionary Workers (KMA; Danish: Kvindelige Missions Arbejdere ) two years later. The new organization supported Armenian orphans sheltered in German orphanages of Mush, Van, Marash, and Kharpert. After completing nursing courses, Maria Jacobsen became a member of KMA in 1906. She left for Kharpert the next year, at the age of twenty-five, as a missionary. She was appointed as director of a small hospital there, and in a short time she learned Armenian in order to communicate with local people. She started writing her 600-page valuable diary in September 1907 and would continue it for the next twelve years.

Jacobsen stated in an entry about the deportation of Armenians (June 26, 1915) that, “It is quite obvious that the purpose of their departure is the extermination of the Armenian people.” She added that what could have been done in 1895 was impossible twenty years later: “The Turks know very well about the war raging in Europe, and that the Christian nations are too busy to take care of Armenians, so they take advantage of the times to destroy their ‘enemies.’” Her diary mainly describes the deportation and exile of the Armenians of Kharpert, and scenes of murders perpetrated by the Turks from 1915-1919: “These poor people did not look like humans any more, not even animals could be found in this state, people would be merciful and kill them.” She reported that the Turkish authorities demanded to hand over the orphans from the American missionaries, but many of them were killed when this happened. During this period, Jacobsen adopted three children.

After World War I, with the support of Near East Relief workers, Maria Jacobsen gathered more than 3,600 Armenian wandering orphans, most of them suffering from infectious diseases and reduced to skeletons. In 1919 she left the Ottoman Empire after contracting typhus from the orphans. After going to Denmark, she was invited to visit the United States, where she had public lectures about the massacres and raised money for the orphans. She tried to go back to Kharpert in 1920-1921, but she was not allowed to enter the Ottoman Empire. She subsequently went to Lebanon, where she continued her activities.

In July 1922 she settled in Zouk Michail which was between the cities of Byblos and Beirut (this was the first orphanage of K.M.A.) with 208 children from Cilicia. They later moved to Saida. In 1928 K.M.A. acquired the building of the Armenian orphanage of Jbeil from the American Near East Relief, establishing the Danish orphanage “Birds’ Nest.” By its status “Birds’ Nest” was more like a school than an orphanage. The same subjects of public schools of Lebanon were taught, along with different crafts.

The Armenian orphans referred to Maria Jacobsen as “Mama Jacobsen.” She often read the Bible to the orphans in Armenian. Her humanitarian activities were deservedly acknowledged by her homeland. She was awarded the golden medal of the Danish Kingdom in 1950, becoming the first woman in the country who earned that highest state award. She was granted the Gold Medal of Honor by the Lebanese government in 1954 for her service and dedication to the Armenian community.

Maria Jacobsen died on April 6, 1960, and, according to her will, she was buried in the courtyard of the Birds' Nest. Her diary, which she had secretly smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire, was translated into Armenian and published in Danish original and Armenian translation in 1979. An English translation was published in 2001. Her bust was inaugurated in California in 2016 and a kindergarten in the town of Ijevan (Armenia) bears her name.

Opening of the Genocide Memorial in Bikfaya (April 24, 1970)

Before 1965, there were only three memorials dedicated to the genocide of 1915 worldwide: the Martyrs’ Chapel in the monastery of Antelias (1938), the stele at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Beirut (1939), and the memorial at the courtyard of the San Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Buenos Aires (1961). Starting in 1965, there would be a true explosion in the construction of memorials, both in Armenia and in the Diaspora.



Inauguration of the Bikfaya memorial. This picture appeared on the cover of the special issue of the daily Aztag (May 9, 1970) and was taken by AP late photographer (and later New Yorker) Harry Koundakjian.

The commemoration of 1965 in Lebanon acquired a particular resonance. Even though the government yielded to Turkish pressure and did not authorize a projected march, the gathering of 85,000-90,000 Armenians in the sports complex of Bourj Hammoud became proof that from here on the commemorations would take a different direction.

 

As the end of the fiftieth anniversary, in April 1966, the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, Khoren I announced that a monument would be built at the St. Mary’s Monastery in Bikfaya, which belongs to the Catholicosate. The “Monument to the Fiftieth Anniversary” would be located on a rock near the chapel of St. Mary and the Seminary. It was commissioned to sculptor Zaven Khedeshian (1932-2018), already a noted name in Lebanese art.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 23, 1967, by the three Armenian spiritual leaders, Catholicos Khoren I, Patriarch Ignatius Peter XVI Batanian of the Armenian Catholic Church, and Rev. Hovhannes Aharonian. Bishop Karekin Sarkissian (future Catholicos Karekin II of Cilicia and I of All Armenians), the dean of the seminary, read a message on behalf of the memorial committee. He said:

“I want that the eyes of soul see with equal truth and joy the bronze statue of more than twelve meters of height elevating to the sky, which, through the image of the restoration of a human body, symbolizes the triumphant restoration of an entire people, from the terrorizing world of sand and ruins, rags and wounds, suffering and torture towards the world of healthy revival, febrile creation, and insatiable construction.”

A popular fundraiser was held to finance the construction of the memorial, a bronze abstract figure of a woman standing with hands toward the sky. The figure is mounted on a clef-like rock of five meters high, beyond which is located the public space for public assembly. The inauguration was anticipated for April 24, 1969, but recurrent political crisis in Lebanon prevented the public commemoration of the genocide that year.

The inauguration was postponed for April 24, 1970, when it became one of the main features of the 55 ^th anniversary of the genocide. The huge multitude, which by some estimates surpassed the number of 20,000, went from the ceremony held at the monastery of Antelias to Bikfaya for the inauguration. At one point, the traffic flow forced the mass to leave their cars on the road ascending to the Armenian monastery and reach the place by foot. People flooded the courtyard of the monastery around the memorial. After a stirring “hokehankisd” ceremony, the first speaker was Boghos Douzjian, representing the Memorial Committee, followed by Rev. Aharonian, Bishop Mesrob Terzian (in representation of Patriarch Batanian), and Catholicos Khoren. The keynote speaker was Khachig Babikian, Minister of Tourism, on behalf of the President of Lebanon, Charles Helou, who sponsored the inauguration.

During the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990, the memorial underwent a sabotage bombing by the Phalange, a Christian militant party, and the lower portion of the monument was heavily damaged. The monument was heavily damaged but it did not fall. It was later repaired.

On the centennial of the genocide, the memorial was renovated and an altar dedicated to the martyrs was built nearby. The rocks and walls leading to the memorial were ornamented with symbols related to Armenian history, the Armenian Church, and the genocide, and a map of the Armenian Genocide was added near the monument. 

Death of Parsegh Ganachian (May 21, 1967)

The best known of Gomidas Vartabed’s “five disciples” and an accomplished composer and choirmaster himself, Parsegh Ganachian is also known as the author of the arrangement for the Armenian national anthem “Mer Hayrenik.”

He was born in Rodosto (Oriental Thrace, today in Turkey) on April 17, 1885. He was the son of a shoemaker, and at the age of three, his family moved to Constantinople, where he received his primary education at the elementary school of Gedikpasha. During the massacres of 1896, the Ganachians moved to Varna, in Bulgaria, where the young Parsegh continued his studies at the local Armenian school and studied music theory, violin, and conducting with violinist Nathan Bey Amirkhanian. The family moved again in 1905, this time to Bucharest (Romania), where Ganachian continued his studies of violin and he also took upon piano studies with composer Georges Bouyouk.

After the restoration of the Ottoman Constitution in 1908, Ganachian returned to Constantinople, where he founded the first Armenian orchestra, “Knar.” His encounter with Gomidas in December 1910 and the concert of the 300-strong “Kusan” choir in early 1911 were crucial for his career. He entered Gomidas choir. The great musician selected eighteen members of the choir as his students, and the number gradually diminished to five, of which one of them was Ganachian.

The future composer was drafted by the Ottoman army in World War I and played in the military orchestra until he was exiled to Diarbekir, where he fell gravely ill. He was sent to Aleppo, and he was there when the armistice was signed in November 1918. Along with other surviving intellectuals, Ganachian gathered young people and organized concerts to the benefit of the exiles, creating a wave of enthusiasm in the audiences. At that time, he composed the “Volunteer March” (Կամաւորական քայլերգ / Gamavoragan kaylerk), better known as “Harach, Nahadag” by the first words of its lyrics, written by poet Kevork Garvarentz. He later went to Cilicia, where he also gave concerts, and then returned to Constantinople.

In the Ottoman capital, the Gomidas students organized a group and presented concerts, created a Gomidas Fund and published Gomidas’ works in three songbooks. They also organized choirs and dealt with the education of the new generation. Ganachian composed his well known “Lullaby” (Օրօր /Oror) for soloist and choir.

The Gomidas’ students were sent to Paris to continue their musical education. Going to the French capital in 1921, Ganachian followed the courses of famous composer René Lenormand (1846-1932). Between 1922 and 1932 he toured Aleppo, Egypt, and Cyprus, forming choirs and giving choral concerts. From 1926-1930 he also taught music at the Melkonian Educational Institute. In 1932 he settled in Beirut, teaching at the College Armenien or Jemaran (later the Neshan Palandjian College). In 1933 he organized and directed the choir “Kusan,” which achieved great success in both Armenian and Lebanese circles from 1933-1946. The choir also had presentations in other Lebanese and Syrian cities, as well as in Egypt. It continued its activities until 1961.

Ganachian maintained and promoted the musical principles enunciated by Gomidas, deeply entrenched in national roots. He composed 25 choral songs and orchestral fragments, as well as around 20 songs for children. He also arranged Armenian and Arabic folk songs. Among his most important compositions are the opera “The Monk,” with Levon Shant’s play The Ancient Gods as its libretto, and the cantata “Nanor,” which depicts the pilgrimage to the monastery of St. Garabed in Moush. He also produced arrangements for the Armenian anthem, as well as the Lebanese and Syrian national anthems (1936).

Ganachian lost his sight in 1945, but his choir continued its performances. His works were partly published in Beirut and Yerevan. Among other awards, he was awarded the National Order of the Cedar (1957) by the Lebanese government for his achievements in the cultural life of Lebanon. 

The composer passed away on May 21, 1967, in Beirut. The Armenian cultural association Hamazkayin established an arts institute carrying his name in Lebanon. An art school also bears Ganachian’s name in Yerevan.