This site highlights an ongoing project concerning the Armenian diaspora communities worldwide. It represents a small percentage of the catalogued material. For each country/region, there is a brief history, a map selected randomly, and 10 entries also selected randomly.
Quick background:
The massive influx of Armenians into France took place following French government’s ceding of the province of Cilicia to Kemalist Turkey (1921) and the evacuation of Smyrna by the Greek army and the subsequent massacre (1922). Armenian refugees were housed in makeshift camps, such as Oddo and Saint Jérôme, before they moved out to different neighborhoods in Marseille and upwards to Lyon and Paris.
As they did not speak French and were unfamiliar with the lifestyle in an industrialized society, they took manual jobs in different industries. These artisans, traders, peasants and entrepreneurs did not, however, get along well with their new social status and work conditions. Soon they started to move out of social housing in urban working-class neighborhoods into undeveloped rural areas along the Mediterranean coastline and Marseille-Lyon-Paris axis, where they were able to regroup, build individual houses and establish new communities. Their spectacular ascension to the middle-class allowed them to fund community institutions such as schools, churches, choruses, dance troupes, and media. It was only after the Second World War that the Armenian refugees became true French citizens. They abandoned their refugee status, both legally and mentally, obtained citizenship, and entered into the process of full integration into the French society.
Map:
Approximately 60,000 Armenian refugees landed in the port of Marseille, 1922-1924. The map of southern France shows their settlement pattern in the 1920s - 1930s. They eventually settled along Nice-Marseille-Montpellier axis (the Mediterranean coastline) and Marseille-Lyon-Paris axis. They were very mobile: by 1926, almost half of them were already located in and around Paris.
1.
Having a haircut at the Oddo camp in Marseille, date and photographer unknown. The camp hosted approximately 5,500 Armenian refugees 1922-1927, including more than 400 children who were born in the camp. The abandoned military barracks were quickly refurbished in the early 1922 to temporarily host a few hundred families but the number of refugees quickly grew to create an over-crowded space.
2.
The House of Armenian Students was designed by Levon Nafilian (1877-1937) who combined ethnic Armenian and art deco architectural elements. The House of Armenian Students is one of 40 dormitory buildings in Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris; a vast student campus in the south of Paris. The campus houses approximately 6,000 students and scholars who attend different universities in Paris. The Armenian House was financed entirely by Boghos Nubar (1851–1930), the Armenian businessman and philanthropist, in the memory of his wife Marie Nubar. It was inaugurated in 1930.
3.
The father of the bride walks her to the church at her wedding in Arnouville, circa 1930s. A group of Armenian refugees, mostly from Angora/Ankara in central Anatolia, settled in Arnouville, the northern suburb of Paris, in 1922. Some were Catholics. An Armenian Catholic church with its auxiliary services and associations was established in 1927.
4.
La chambre verte (The Green Room), 1981, Jean Carzou, chalk and ink on paper (50 cm x 64 cm). Born in 1907 in Aleppo, Syria, painter and illustrator Jean Carzou (Garnik Zouloumian) settled in France in 1924. He developed two artistic paths: a realist path, reflected in his depictions of historical monuments, railroad tracks and industrial structures, and the poetic, dream-like path. For the latter one, he created an archetype of young slender women and solitary ballerinas that convey a deep sensuality. Carzou also designed costumes and sets for theater, film and opera.
5.
Poster of Tirez sur le pianist (Shoot the Piano Player), 1960, a film directed by François Truffaut. Truffaut wrote the screenplay of this New-Wave crime drama with the role of Charlie Kohler / Edouard Saroyan, the piano player, for Charles Aznavour in mind. The role of Charlie’s youngest brother Fido Saroyan was played by Richard Kanayan, a child actor. Over his long career, Charles Aznavour appeared in more than 60 feature films and was the subject of at least three documentaries.
6.
The Zortian family in front of their store on Bouffier Street, 1933, the Armenian Heritage Center, Valence. On the store window it is written: customized shoes and repair. By the early 1930s, Valence in central France counted thousands of Armenian refugees. They were regrouped on and around a certain Bouffier street, in the city’s historical center. The neighborhood surrounding Bouffier became to be known as “Haynots” (meaning the place of Armenians in Armenian). Armenians of Haynots lived as a closely-knit community, trying to overcome the consequences of their exile.
7.
Pair of Women's Shoes, circa 1955, Sarkis Der Balian, high heel sandals with leather printed with black lace pattern over metallic copper and bronze leather straps, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Textile and shoemaking were the two primary fields that Armenian refugees quickly moved to in the early 1920s. Belleville, a neighborhood in Paris, became one of the strongholds of the Armenian shoemakers, and shoemaking became the profession that would be associated with the Armenians for a long time. Most Armenian shoemakers stayed small and anonymous but a few managed to become major brands. The first prominent brand was that of Balian. Sarkis Der Balian (circa 1908-1996) opened his studio in the 1940s on Rue Saint-Honoré. The comfort and artistry of his shoes brought him international recognition and the nickname “the Michelangelo of the shoe.”
8.
Kindergarten student boxes with their names in Armenian and/or in French, 2011. The private bilingual Hamazgayin School was established in 1996 in Issy les Moulineaux, the southern suburb of Paris. A wave of school building spread in the Armenian-French communities in the early 1980s, mainly due to the arrival of new migrants from the Middle East. They considered the Saturday/Sunday Armenian school format that was common in France largely insufficient and tried to recreate the school model that is preferred in the Middle East: the bilingual private school.
9.
Charles Kassapian, 1955, Grigor Jololian, Studio Arax. G. Jololian (1897-1975) captured the life of the Armenian-French communities in Marseille and in Paris in the early phase of their formation (1925-1940). In parallel, his passion for athleticism led him to specialize in the photography of bodybuilders. His captivating photographs of professional bodybuilders afforded Arax Studio worldwide recognition and he became to be known as “Gregor Arax.” Charles Kassapian was Jololian’s only known Armenian model and one of his favorites.
10.
The cover of Papier d'Armenie designed by Francis Kurkidjan. Papier d'Arménie is a type of incense infused with essences, fragrances or essential oils in order to achieve a perfuming and cleansing effect. This is the most popular object and brand name associated with Armenia in France. Armenian-French perfumer Kurkidjan (born 1969) who had created over 40 fragrances for several luxury good brands collaborated with the manufacturer to produce a new line of Papier d'Armenie. Introduced in 2006, The Original line includes myrrh, woodsy and vanilla scents.
