Stepan Dardouni and his Memorial Album (1/2)

Vahe H. Apelian

“we come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. We all know, either implicitly or explicitly, that all we really have is our place in the memories of others. We exist to the degree that we know and remember one another; even the most isolated among us. We share a collective understanding that we are all part of a greater whole”. Eric Bogosian, "Operation Nemesis".

Stepan Dardouni (Der Matheosin)

Lately I have been reading Stepan Dardouni’s memorial album titled “A.R.F. Memorial Album of Northern America 1898-1984” (Հ.Յ.Դ. Յիշատակարան Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի 1898-1984). I will comment on the memorial album in the second part of this article. 

I met Stepan Dardouni in the early 1980’s in the New York Armenian Community center when he was well an octogenarian and had firmly established himself as an active and devoted member of the A.R.F. for the past many decades. I was told he lived in the city but was regularly present in the community center.

What caught my attention was his last name. Recently reading the memorial album he compiled, I realized that it was a pen-name that he had adopted and used it socially to the apparent exclusion of his official family name. So much so, that it had become a permanent part of his social identification. His family name is Der Matheosian. He might have hailed from a priestly family to have the designation Der in the family name. Strikingly, he signed the dedication and the preface of his album as Stepan Dardouni putting Der Matheosian in parenthesis. I remained under the impression that even he had become estranged from his family name. Records indicate that he was using Dardouni as his family name when he taught in the Birds' Nest orphanage during 1920-1922,  in Jbeil, Lebanon. 

It was obvious from first glance that his last name Dardouni is a compound name derived from the word “dard”(տարտ) that is rather commonly used in colloquial Armenian, and “ouni” (ունի), which means "has". I inquired about the word “dard” with the eminent Western Armenian linguist Dr. Armenag Yeghayian, who is a dentist by profession and a Western Armenian language scholar. Armenag was a teacher to us when I attended Sourp (Saint) Nshan School in Beirut and Lebanon. The school’s name was changed in mid to late 1960’s to Khanamirian College after the benefactor of the school and its upgrading to an high school. It was a middle level school in my days.

According to Armenag Yeghiayan, the word “dard” is derived from Persian and has made inroad in Turkish lexicon. The Eastern Armenians have also adopted the word, much like many other Persian words, in their distinct pronunciation and hence dictation as “Tart” (Դարդ). The Western Armenians have purged the word for their literary use and have used it only colloquially and hence the word “dard” is not found in Western Armenian dictionaries, although it is commonly used and understood. The literary word for it is “vishd”  (վիշտ), which means, according to Nairi dictionary, grief, anguish, sorrow, woe, suffering. 

The implication of Stepan’s choice for a last name is obvious. Stepan Dardouni  carried a sorrow. 

There is no reflection in his dedication and in his preface of the memorial album he compiled as to why he had adopted Dardouni as his last name. There was an incident he noted in the album he compiled reminiscing about Unger Mgrditch Topalian (Մկրտիչ Թօփալեան). An unidentified friend from Syracuse had broken the news of Unger Topalian's death to  Hairenik  Daily, which in turn included the sad news it its  October 21, 1976 issue. 

Reminiscing about Mgrditch Topalian, he wrote that at one time Stepan Dardouni was invited to Syracuse to deliver a speech on an occasion. He flew there on a bitter cold winter day and was welcomed by Unger Mgrditch Topalian who chaired the local gomideh. The weather condition was so treacherous that they wondered if they were going to make to the church on time, where the occasion was being observed. Part of the church was turned into a social hall. The event was held. Unger Aharon Sachaklian was present with his wife who recited a poem to the pleasant surprise of Dardouni. On their return to the airport they encountered a heavy traffic because of a football game which appeared to have just ended. To kill time, they got engaged in a conversation. I quote: “Unger Dardouni, said Unger Mgrditch, let us change your name, let us find another name for Dardouni. I said, with a smile, I understand. I will think about it.” That is all the reflection Stepan shared regarding his choice of Dardouni as his last name.

His biography may shed light as to his choice of his last name. He survived the genocide and the twists and turns of life cast him far from his native land, against his will. Keeping the verb tenses the same, I translated and attached  below Stepan Dardouni’s biography the publishers included in his memorial album. 

“Stepan Dardouni was born in Marash on March 21, 1899. He had his elementary education in the local Saint Sarkis school, after which he has attended central school. He was accepted as a seminarian in the Sis seminary. But during his last year, along with many destitute Armenians, he was driven to the deserts of Arabia.

Along with other survivors he reaches an Arabian village known as Tafilah, close to the Dead Sea in Jordan. Young Stepan takes upon himself assisting the Armenian refugees. He teaches Turkish and French in a newly opened school for the government employees. He also tutors the children of an influential Arab chieftain. Through such connections he contributes to the welfare of the local Armenians.

During those days many Armenians were going away to Egypt. Stepan along with the majority of the Armenian in Tofilah, join a French detachment among the retreating forces of Sharif and reach Akaba. From where they move to Suez. 

In Egypt for a while he continues his studies for a while but his mind and soul remain with his homeland, the Armenian Cilicia.  He volunteers in the Armenian Legion and is moved to Cyprus, where he gets his military training attending officers’ school. Thanks to his knowledge of French he also assists his fellow Armenian volunteers.

Allied forces prevail and Turkish forces retreat. The Armenian legion enters Beirut where law and order start taking place giving hope for the Armenians. After a short while Dardouni moves to Cilicia and takes part in organizing the defense but the French forces start leaving Cilicia in haste necessitating a second exodus for the Armenians. 

Dardouni returns to Beirut and meets the Catholicos Sahag and reveals to him his desire to continue his education in Geneva. However, fate would have it otherwise.

One day Dardouni pays a visit to a newly opened orphanage for the Armenians in the coastal town Karantina, where orphans from Aintab and other parts of Armenia were being cared for. Mr. Travis, the director of the orphanage, seeing Dardoun's interest in the welfare of the Armenian orphans offers him a teaching position. For the patriotic Dardouni the choice is clear. He tells the Catholicos of the choice he has made and after receiving the Catholicos’ blessing embarks on teaching the Armenian orphans.

The orphanage moves to Jbeil, where Dardouni continues his teaching for the next two years. He instills in his students love of Armenian nation as well as hope and faith that the Armenian will prevail. 

Dardouni becomes not only a teacher to the orphans but as well as a brother and a father. He establishes a library devoting almost all of his salary towards the project. His efforts bear fruits. Out come a generation from these orphans committed to their welfare and patriotic. In this regard he says the following: “I can safely without hesitation that I lived purposeful and rewording days during those two years, 1920-1922.”

Dardouni arrives to America in 1922 and follows English language course in the Springfield International College. Subsequently he is called to office in “Hairenik” for the next five years. 

Later on, he moves from Boston to New York. He becomes an active member of the community. For decades he becomes an active member of Armen Garo gomideyoutiun. Many times, he is elected a member of the local gomideh and as well as a member of the central committee of Northern U.S. He takes part in the 20th A.R.F. world council. He brings his undeniable contribution towards the purchase of the New York community center.

Dardouni remained true to the inspiration he received from the A.R.F. leaders and remained steadfast in the pursuit of the big  dream for a free and independent Armenia. Along with Vartkes Aharonian, Assadour Khederian, Yetouart Sahagian, he remained a torch bearer in the New York Armenian community.

He has contributed to “Hairenik” and to the “Outreach” journal of the Prelacy. During the last few years, in spite of his health issues, at the cost of great sacrifice he compiled this memorial album immersing himself in the “Hairenik” archives. In the hospital where he remained hospitalized for a few weeks, his only concern was this album’s publication. Sadly, when his manuscript was submitted for publication he passed away on Saturday, February 19, 1988. The same day an outcry reached from Karabagh and Yerevan for “One Republic and One Fatherland”. Did Dardouni hear the outcry? 

We believe that he heard the outcry and left this world in joy and hopeful.” 

The fact that, quoting from his biography, "he was accepted as a seminarian in the Sis seminary" gives credence to the probability that he hailed from priestly family and hence his parental family name was Der Matheosian.