Vartan Gregorian remembers Hotel Lux

My father knew Vartan Gregorian and met him in the hotel when young Vartan had just arrived in Beirut from Iran on his way to continue his studies in Jemaran. Later on, as a student in Jemarant, Vartan lived with an Armenian family in a building next to the one we lived with my uncle's family in Zokak-El-Blat neighborhood in West Beirut, a few blocks away from Jemaran.

Hotel Lux was in downtown Beirut, not far from the parliament building. My father worked in the hotel when he left his native village Keurkune, Kessab in mid to late 1930;s when he was still in his later teens. Many Kessabtsi young men who left Kessab for Lebanon to escape possible  conscription in the Turkish army  had not learned any trade, as there were few such as tailoring the late Catholicos Karekin I/II had apprenticed in his youth. Thus, most of them  worked as waiters and made their living by serving.  Later on he ran that Armenian landmark inn, having added another floor, until its demise in 1976 because of the civil war in Lebanon. 

The star marked on the picture above depicts the entrance of Hotel Lux, from Allenby Street but the main entrance of the hotel or rather the inn, was from the side street. Customers would be lifted to the upper floors of the building with an old-fashioned elevator, which constituted the famed Hotel Lux. Many in the close-knit Armenian community knew it as Tourig’s hotel. Mehran Tourigian had started it in late 1920’s or early 1930’s.

 It would not surprise me that the white colored Volkswagen Beetle in the attached picture was actually the VW we owned. As to that corner store,  it is from there that my father and later on I, bought the newly issued stamps for  my Lebanese stamps collection, I still have. Along with the stamps, Chiclets gum, two in a small package and Cadbury chocolate bars, we fondly remember purchasing from that store. Regretfully downtown Lebanon became a casualty of the Lebanese civil war and was eventually bought by a company that the late PM Hariri owned or was its major stockholder. Visitors claim that t downtown Beirut has become an upper scale but a stale neighborhood as it has lost its charm.

The quotation below is from Vartan Gregorian's book "The Road to Home" (pages 65 and 66, 2003), where he describes his first day in Beirut having just arrived from Iran. I remember meeting him and his wife while we, as a family were taking a promenade along the coast, not far from the hotel. I remember Vartan and my parents speaking. Vartan was with his wife. That must have been when he returned to Beirut after receiving his PhD to teach and do research. I met Vartan the last time a few year's ago at the gala for the opening of the NAASR's new wing named after him.  During the gala he stopped at each table. When I introduced myself, he remembered my father who  had passed away in 2007.

This is how Vartan Gregorian's recalls his first day in Beirut ("The Road to Home", pages 65,66, 2003)

“Once in Beirut, I had stage fright. My Persian, Armenian, Turkish, even some Russian, proved insufficient as a means of communication. One of my companions on the IranAir flight came to my assistance. He helped me change Iranian rials to Lebanese pounds, negotiated the cab fare for me, and gave the driver the address of my destination in Beirut: Hotel Luxe. “Which one?” the driver asked. I said, “The one, the famous one. It is a well-known hotel.” The driver shook his head. “I know about the location,” he said, “but I have never heard about Hotel Lux.”

After a wild taxicab ride and an inquiry or two, the driver located the Hotel Luxe. It was in one of the busiest sections of the business district. Buried among a myriad of signs was a discreet, small sign indicating the exact location of the hotel. It was on the fifth floor of a building and was reached by a crude elevator. The hotel had six or seven rooms and a nice, large, airy rooftop terrace. The owner, Mr. Toorigian, and his family lived on the top floor. The kitchen served the family as well as the guests. It was a lively Armenian hotel. In the evenings, it served as a gathering place for several writers, or backgammon players, and discuss a variety of pressing national and international issues. It was sort of a modern-day salon.

The hotel’s rooms were occupied by visiting writers, teachers, and businessmen from Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. I was the first guest from Iran. I handed Mr. Maloyan’s letter to Mr. Toorigian. He extended a warm welcome and gave me a room, and asked me to join him, his family, and guests for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The guests, all Armenians, spoke the western Armenian dialect. I spoke the eastern one, but we understood each other. My first night in Beirut was depressing. All of a sudden, I felt alone in the world. I was in a faraway place, in a strange city and strange hotel and bed, uprooted and transplanted to follow the unknown. I had neither friends nor acquaintances.

My first two weeks in Beirut were memorable even though I was alone and lonely. I found the city intoxicating. It was my first encounter with a foreign metropolis, a seaport, and ships. I experienced, for the first time, the distinctive smell of the sea, and the oppressive late summer heat and humidity of the city. This was offset by the clean air and gentle breeze of its beautiful nights.”

On the veranda of Hotel Lux in 1963, your humble blogger Vahe H. Apelian

Revised on  4/15/2021 

 

 

 

ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL SCHOOLS OF CALIFORNIA, INC. The Founding of the First School

ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL SCHOOLS OF CALIFORNIA, INC.

The Founding of the First School

Author: Unknown

I came across these three unsighned typewritten and stapled pages in my mother’s archives. I could not trash them without reproducing it here. It narrates the chronology of the founding of the CHARLOTTE and ELISE MERDINIAN ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL SCHOOL and in doing so, illustrates the community-wide efforts that were vested in the founding of the school that had its start with thirteen students.

February, 1980

Rev. Vartkes Kassouni convened a group of thirty-five members of the United Armenian Congregational Church (UACC) to discuss the possibility of the founding of an Armenian Evangelical School. He was responding to the many requests from recent Armenian immigrants.

After a comprehensive discussion of the subject, the group decided to form an ad hoc committee to investigate the possibilities in a systematic way and to report the findings. Seven persons volunteered to serve on such a committee. Rev. Kassouni then assigned specific areas to four Members: 

o     Hrant Agbabian (facilities)

o     George Guldalian (finances)

o     Alice Haig (curriculum)

o     Hagop Loussararian (enrollment)

Missak Abdulian was asked to serve as convener for subsequent meetings. Hrair Atikian and Eva Shahinian were to cover assignments as needed. Later Berta Bilezikian agreed to serve as an educational consultant. By the end of 1980, the committee reported that.

o     there is a need for such a school,

o     sufficient enrollment seems assured, and

o     the resources can be found.

The committee recommended, however, that the project be sponsored not by UACC alone but by the whole Armenian Evangelical community, led by the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America (AEUNA), the Armenian Missionary Association of America  (AMAA), and the local churches.

January, 1981

After reviewing the report of the UACC ad hoc committee, Rev. Kassouni referred the matter to the executive committee of AEUNA, and Rev. Dr. Giragos Chopourian, Executive Director of the AMAA, brought the subject to the attention of the board of director of the AMAA. Those two bodies the appointed a Joint Investigative Committee to study the feasibility of Armenian Evangelical schools in the United States. Although the consideration was nationwide, committee members were selected from the West Coast and they were asked to make a pilot study in the Los Angeles area, which has the largest Armenian population. The committee consisted of :

o     Dr. Mihran Agbabian

o     Alice Haig, Chairman

o     Roy Kaprielian

o     Rev. Vartkes Kassouni

o     Edward Maljanian

o     Arthur Arutian served as a consultant.

Rev. Dr. Chopurian was designated an ex-officio member. 

To receive input from the East, two additional members were selected as advisors Rev. Vahan Toutikian and Nazar Daghlian.

At the end of 1981, the Investigative Committee reported that a school would be feasible if a suitable location could be found.

October, 1981

The AMAA offered seed money ($25,000 to $40,000) to start the school.

January, 1982

The AEUNA and the AMAA gave the investigating committee a new name and mission—“site Search Committee”. Two new members were added: Hrant Agbabian and Creg Hekimian. Luther Eskijian agreed to serve as advisor.

April, 1982

Within three months, site possibilities were identified, and a target date of September 1982, to start the school seemed to be realistic. A new committee was selected—“Interim Organizing Committee”. Members of this committee included.

o   Aram Garabedian

o   Alice Haig, Chairman

o   Greg Hekimian

o   Roy Kaprielian

o   Zaven Khanjian

o   Dr. Pepronia Merjanian

o   George Phillips, Esq.

Consultants were: Hrant Agbabian and Edward Maljanian. The pastors of the four local churches were designated as ex-officio members:

o     Rev. Abraham Chaparian (Armenian Evangelical Church of Hollywood)

o     Rev. Vartkes Kassouni (United Armenian Congregational Church)

o     Rev. Norair Melidonian (Armenian Cilicia Congregational Church)

o     Rev. Edward Tovmassian (Immanuel Armenian Congregational Church)

This committee took the necessary preliminary steps for opening the school.

June, 1982

School bylaws and Articles of Incorporation were completed, and the school obtained its state charter. (To avoid the need to draw up new charters if additional Armenian Evangelical schools are founded in California in the future, a plural name was chosen for the corporation.) Official signatories were the four local pastors named above and the committee chairman, Alice Haig.

At this point, the Interim Committee was replaced by an actual Board of Directors of the school, selected according to the bylaws. The initial board consisted of ten members representing the sponsoring groups:

o     Hrant Agbabian (AEUNA)

o     Vahe Ashkarian (Immanuel Armenian Congregational Church)

o     Aram Garabedian (Armenian Evangelical Church of Hollywood)

o     Alice Haig (AMAA)

o     Greg Hekimian (AEUNA)

o     Roy Kaprielian (Armenian Cilicia Congregational Church)

o     Zaven Khanjian (AEUNA)

o     Hagop Loussararian (United Armenian Congregational Church)

o     Dr. Pepronia Merjanian (AMAA)

o     George Phillips, Esq. (AMAA)

The four pastors named above were designated “advisory members”.

The eleventh space on the board was reserved for the representative of the Parent-Teacher Organization when established.

Four standing committee chairmen were appointed:

o     Curriculum: Anahid Terjimanian

o     Finance: George Guldalian

o     Personnel: Hagop Loussararian

o     Public Relations: Hratch Baliozian

July 1982

Officers of the board were elected:

o   Chairman: Alice Haig

o   Vice-Chairman: Hrant Agbabian

o   Corresponding Secretary:  Dr Pepronia Merjanian

o   Recording Secretary/Treasurer: Zaven Khanjian

o   Associate Treasurer: Vahe Ashkarian

At this time, Rev. Dr. Chopourian approached Elise Merdinian, an AMAA supporter. He was aware of her wish to make a major donation if she could find a permanent memorial that could bear the family name. The school project appealed to her. She agreed to make some initial donations and more later, if the school could be called CHARLOTTE (her sister) and ELISE MERDINIAN ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL SCHOOL and if certain other stipulations could be made.

September, 1982

The school opened with thirteen students; by the end of the year, enrollment reached twenty-eight. Daniel Albarian, a ministerial candidate at the Fuller Theological Seminary, was designated Administrator/Chaplain. Two teachers were selected:

o     Kindergarten (four and five years old): Mrs. Vergine Mitilian

o     Grades 1 to 3: Mrs. Gilda Nargizian.

The UACC agreed to rent out three Sunday school rooms for the use of the day school, on the condition that the school would move as soon as a promised site became available at the First Presbyterian Church of North Hollywood. 

February, 1983

After detailed negotiators, the legal documentation for the first phase of Elise Merdinian’s pledge was completed.

September, 1983

The school moved to larger quarters at the First Presbyterian Church.

Health Secrets from the Caucasus for 100 Healthy Happy Years

Health Secrets from the Caucasus for 100 Healthy Happy Years

A book review by Vahe H. Apelian

A few decades ago, late 1970's, my late brother-in-law Krikor had bought a countryside property in Monroe, NY. The house sat on a 35 acres wilderness. The alleyway that led to his house reminded me of Keurkune than anywhere else. The house became a weekend refuge for the family, especially for my father. My mother-in-law and Krikor commuted to work every day while my father-in-law stayed there and attended to his chores, chopped wood, raised vegetable garden, built a chicken coop and for sometime took care of Krikor’s horse.

The downtown Monroe was a few miles from the house. For all practical purposes, it was a dormant town, a far cry from the NY City, mere 50 miles away via Route 71. Krikor worked in the city as a jeweler with the famous Tiffany's. Somehow Krikor had gotten to know of an Armenian couple that ran a restaurant called West Point Farms, in Central Valley. Wikipedia tells me "Central Valley is a hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 1,857 at the 2000 census." The restaurant that seemed also a family farm of sorts, was located some five miles from Krikor's house. One weekend we paid a visit. The owners gifted me a book titled "A Diet For 100 Healthy Happy Years-Health Secrets from the Caucasus" by Morvyth McQueen-Williams, M.D. and Barbara Apisson, edited by Norman Ober. The book is copyrighted to the Barbara Apisson and Norman Ober and is dated 1977.

In the Foreword, the editor noted that he had been frequenting the restaurant from Manhattan for the over twenty years. Collaborating with the medical doctor Morvyth and the chef Barbara, the editor Norman Ober came with the understanding for writing the book. "Dr. Williams would practice the medicine and that Barbara would assist with the view-point, Caucasus data and the recipes" that are included in the book. The "final language and format were my responsibility", understandably noted the editor in his foreword.

Morvyth McQueen-Williams had "received a B.A. at the University of California and with it the University Gold Medal as the ‘the most distinguished student in the capacity of the University to award'

After seven years of straight A grades, Dr. Williams won her M.D. degree from Yale University and later her M.A. and Ph.D." She married Kegan Sarkissian who was "a research physiologist and inventor in the developmental physiology and nutritional sciences."

“Kegan came to the United States in 1919. He spent four years at the University of New Hampshire, specializing in genetic research in agriculture” where he introduced beekeeping by "the methods of his ancestors". In this period, he was also involved with the development of the New Hampshire Red, a superior hen species.”

During her tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Williams was repeatedly exposed to radiation. She credited fighting off the ravages of cancer for more than thirty years to her work with her husband in botanicals. The Sarkissians and the Apissons were friends.

Barbara  ‘was born in Erzurum, Armenia, now part of Turkey. This mountainous Caucasus region, noted for the longevity of its inhabitants, kept the imprint on Barbara after she and her mother fled Turkey and settled in Massachusetts following World War I, keeping the traditions intact – and their recipes." She "met Armenian-born Henri Apisson in New York in 1935. Henri's parent escaped with him to Marseilles, France, in the postwar period of Turkish extermination of Armenians. In 1930, graduating college in Berlin, he followed his three brothers and two sisters and parents to the United States." In 1947 the Apissons fulfilled a dream they had been pursuing when they purchased a property that became the West Point Farms eatery.

The book is 217 pages long and consists of eleven chapters. The first chapters explain the effects of nutritionals, including vitamins, minerals, and botanicals, on a perosn's health including the person's lifestyle. The beneficial effects of walking and gardening and weight control are explained with a listing of weighted menus to regulate food intake. The last chapter is a listing of recipes. Some are commonly known Armenian recipes with madzoon (Yogurt), beureks, plaki, pilafs, midia dolma, kufteh, shish kebab, lavash, anoushabour, petmez pudding, mahalebi, bourma. There was a recipe titled "Armenian Soul Food" which is explained to be ‘a high-protein "pastry" base.

The West Pont Farms seemed to have left its heydays long behind when we got there. The owners, Henri and Barbara Apissons had remained as the only link to its past.  What fascinated me more than the recipes or the nutritional advice, was the serendipitous turn of events that had brought these Armenians from their historic homeland, one being from Erzerum to the hamlet known as Central Valley. 

I searched for the restaurant on the Internet today when I came across the book as I sort my books and put them in order. The only thing that I found was a mention of a vintage postcard, the one I have attached.

The book retails for $10 on the Internet.

Three Tenors

Three Tenors

Vahe H. Apelian

Let me first note that I used the word "tenor" in the title of this blog  for trained voices. I am not a connoisseur of voice.

Some time ago, on YouTube, I came across songs by Armen Guirag. Some of the songs were “viewed” a few times. Others had no views. I became reflective. Artists, such as Armen Guirag, entertain us with their songs, uplift our spirits and make our lives more pleasurable and then, much like old warriors, fade away. In its unmistakable forward march, time brings with it new norms, attitudes and likes and new artists come for a new generation who in turn experiences the same cycle of life. 

Along with Armen Guirag, the voices of Ara Guiragossian  and Kevork Gagossian have remained etched in my memory and I listen to them also, every now and then.

ARA GUIRAGOSSIAN. I have not met him in person. He remains in my mind as a tall and robust man. I have attended his performance on stage with my parents. He also used to sing in “Sayat Nova” restaurant in Beirut. Recently I translated Boghos Shahmelikian’s book that narrates Diaspora Armenian pop music. In it Boghos notes that Ara Guiragossian was the first to record an album of Armenian revolutionary songs. But he never caught the people’s fancy as a singer of such songs. I guess his voice was too trained, too structured for opera than for such songs on popular stage.

Recently I came across the following comments on YouTube that best summarizes Ara Guiragossian as a singer of revolutionary songs and also validates my memory of hearing him in the “Sayat Nova” restaurant. These two comments read as follows:

“When I was a young kid my parents used to take the family to Sayat Nova restaurant in Beirut Lebanon where Ara used to sing. Great memories” (Harout Hamassian).

“Once my mum went to a record shop to buy the disc of "Antranig" sung by Levon Katerdjian. There was a man in the shop, whom my mother didn't recognize. The shopkeeper tried to persuade my mother to buy Ara Guiragossian's version of that song, but mother said that she didn't like Ara's voice very much. Once she said this, she noticed that the man got emotional & hid his face in his hands. My mother then realized that the man was Ara Guiragossian. She felt very ashamed & bought both records.” (arayvaz6).

In vain, I searched for Ara Guiragossian’s biography on the Internet search engines. I do not know when and where he was born and when and where did he pass away. But surely his memory and his singing linger on. He can be heard on YouTube.

*****

KEVORK GAGOSSIAN. I knew Alex Mnagian as a famous accordion player. Again, thanks to Boghos Shahmelikian I found out that he was more than a famous accordion player and that he was an artist of the highest caliber and has had his input in the artistic life in Lebanon be it as an Armenian and as Lebanese through his association with the famous Rahbani brothers.

Mnagian brothers had a music store next to Sourp (Saint) Nshan Church and it's one-time namesake school I attended. The neighborhood was an Armenian hub. Next, to the Mnagian’s store, my friend Garbis Baghdassarian’s brother Zareh, had a bookstore. On that very stretch of the street my classmate Haroutiun Hadsagortzian’s father had a barber shop who spoke with a distinct Dikranagerd accent and would attentively follow us students wondering how well we were doing in our studies and would encourage us to study hard. There was also a gun store whose owner married one of my classmates in Sourp Nshan. We lived a short walking distance from the church and that neighborhood was a hangout for us boys. Alex was a short and stocky guy. Another short and stocky young man would be in the store every now and then. His name was Kevork Gagossian. The community was shocked to hear that he passed away after his concert in Cairo at the age of 27.

 I pieced together the following about Kevork Gagossian from an article penned by Hagop Mardirossian that appeared in Hairenik Weekly on July 17, 2014, forty-five years after his untimely death as a testament of the enduring legacy of this gifted but short-lived young man.

Kevork Gagossian was born on July 9, 1942, and passed away in Cairo, Egypt on November 25, 1969, a day after his concert. After finishing his studies in the Lebanese Conservatory, he had continued his studies in Italy. He had not yet produced any recording letting his friends know that a singer’s voice matures after the age of 35 and that he is yet too young to record for posterity. After his untimely death, his friends produced a record from the recordings of his concerts. He was deemed to be an unusually gifted bass tenor. His teachers, friends, and classmates from Lebanon, Italy, England and Japan mourned his death. His Japanese colleague Takao Okamura held a memorial concert in Beirut and ended his repertoire by signing in Armenian “I heard a sweet voice”  (Ես Լսեցի Մի ԱՆուշ Զայն) dedicating it in memory of Kevork Gagossian.

Kevork Gagossian's rendition of Kamar Katiba's Lerets Ambere - The Clouds Went Silent.

*****

ARMEN GUIRAG My parents had forged a friendship with him during his stay in Hotel Lux, the inn my father ran in Beirut. For many and many years, every Sunday morning my father would play his recording of Armenian Holy Mass, which is regarded one of the best rendition of the Holy Mass by a singer. For all, I recall he was from Latin America. My mother introduced him to her friend Rahel Chilinguirian and they got married and moved to the United States. In late 1960’s my mother visited her relatives in the United States and spent time with Armen and Rahel Guirag. I often wondered what happened to him.

A few years ago I read the following about Armen Guirag in an article the late Tom Vartabedian wrote in Armenian Weekly titled “Three Tenors Strike A Different Tune” (March 24, 2009).

“He (Armen Guirag) was Armenian and ran a record shop in New York City that doubled as his home. He would sell his music in front and sleep out back with a tiny refrigerator, table, and a couple chairs.

Armen Guirag lived from hand to mouth and was in no hurry to move his records. He once told me that everyone he sold was like “selling a child.” But did he ever have a voice, and became the greatest Armenian tenor of his generation back in the 1950’s.

He was recognized as a classic concert and opera singer, produced a number of recordings, and performed near and far, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall that gained rave reviews in the New York papers.

I met him during the tail end of his career when he gradually began to mellow and lived like a recluse. The last concert I attended of his was a pity.

He appeared in Boston, well into his 70s by now, and sang like he never sang before. His voice carried to the very last row of seats as people were on their feet applauding his every note.

And then, the unsuspected occurred. The record he had spinning in the background got stuck while the audience sat mortified. Even before lip-syncing became popular, Armen Guirag appeared well before his time.

He dashed off stage humiliated, never to appear again. Last I heard, he died in that little record store with hardly a whisper from the scores who embraced his music.”

Surely, it is a sad ending for such a talented singer. I hear his singing every now and then and find his voice unusually clear, crisp. It is said that the Armenian community does not appreciate its artists the way it should. I often wonder if our artists are victims of our gene pool. This may be true because we are unusually rich in talents be it singers or players of different classical instruments for the community to support all, the way it should. 

 We surely owe them a debt of gratitude for enriching our lives.

With Mr and Mrs. Armen and Rahel Guirag

*****

 

My Mother’s Armenian Manual Typewriter

Vahe H. Apelian

An Armenian manual typewriter

My mother was born and raised in Keurkune, Kessab in Syria and taught Armenian language and literature during her entire productive life in Syria, Lebanon and then in the U.S. She left behind hundreds of beautifully handwritten pages. On unlined blank sheets of paper, she wrote neatly and on a straight line, line after line, hundreds of pages. She had a beautiful handwriting. At least, I know of no other whose natural effortless Armenian handwriting is as beautiful as hers was. She was also endowed with an uncanny ability for committing poems by heart much like a recording. She loved Armenian poetry and had a habit of writing them down for her enjoyment. She also loved and prepared group recitations, Khmpayin Asmoung in Armenian, for her students to recite. Such group recitations were, as I am not sure if they still are, time-honored traditions at the graduation ceremonies from Armenian schools.  I invite interested readers to read my blog about group recitation (see note)

Along with her handwritten papers, she left the following hand written instruction. 

-                Do not treat my handwritten notes roughly.

-                Keep my albums in a corner.  Do not throw them away. At times you look for something and cannot find them.

-                Love, learn and speak the Armenian language. That is a blessing and a sacredness.”

The instructions my mother left behind.

Surely it leaves me with a great burden as her only surviving child. A year ago, I had part of her handwritten group recitations assembled and published as 260 pages long, 8”x11” size book, titling it “Group Recitations” (Read the link below if interested). I am in the process of assembling the rest of her group recitations as the second volume of a sequel. I also had her writings about teaching assembled and edited in a book, titling it "I and the Teaching - Ես եւ Ուսուցչութիւնը»

Her handwriting reminded of the following.

Decades ago in Lebanon, my mother purchased an Armenian font manual typewriter. It was not an on the spur of the moment purchase. Armenian font manual typewriters were fabricated upon request. It was an expensive proposition, especially for a teacher in Armenian schools. It might have taken her a year maybe to set aside enough funds to buy an Armenian manual typewriter. She knew how to type on a regular typewriter. She committed herself learning to type on the Armenian font typewriter. But I do not think she ended typing a letter on it. She did not like the fonts. She stored the typewriter never to use it again.

Some time ago I found in her papers a typewritten report by the late Rev. Aram Hadidian, on the founding of the one-time Sin El Fil Armenian Evangelical School. The fonts indeed look very dull. There is no appeal whatsoever. It is made to be functional and that’s all.  The technology or the mindset may not have been there to impart to the fonts appeal along with their functionality. 

The first page of Rev. Aram Hadidian's report 

I was also reminded of a movie about Steve Jobs. In a dramatized scene Steve Jobs fired one of their best programmers because he questioned the need to devote time and effort to have different scripts on the McIntosh computer when they were facing so many challenges to overcome; but Steve Jobs was adamant. He attributed his appreciation of the importance of having different appealing calligraphy on the McIntosh to his attending a calligraphy class during his short stay in college.

By the time the computers became available loaded with beautiful Armenian fonts, my mother was too much set in her ways to ever consider learning word processing. She remained oblivious of the beautiful fonts out there. She resorted to the only way she knew, handwriting.

An example of mother's group recitation handwriting

As to the Armenian font manual typewriter, it was shipped along with other household items from Lebanon as the family moved in, one by one, and settled in the U.S.  Sometime ago I donated it to the Armenian Library and Museum of America, in Watertown, MA. The original ribbon was still on it. I typed a line on a page indicating that this typewriter is being gifted to the Armenian museum and had her Armenian manual typewriter shipped there.

Note: Group recitation - Խմբային Ասմունք։

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/10/tribute-to-art-khmpayin-asmoungner.html

Tribute To An Art: Khmpayin Asmoungner

The attached is the preface of my mother's book titled  "Group Recitations and Live Enactments" in Armenian.

Tribute To An Art: Khmpayin Asmoungner

As I write the Foreword in our house in Loveland, OH; my mother Zvart Apelian is thousands of miles away in the Ararat Nursing Facility in Mission Hills, California. She has made the facility her last residence since the past three years although she does not seem to know it. The once dynamic person has become silent and disengaged. Dementia, to avoid the other dreaded word, has ravaged her once beautiful mind and deprived her of memory and recognition. In September 2014 I had her 90^th birthday celebrated at the monthly social the facility’s Ladies’ Guild hosts on the first Tuesday of every month.  She was there at the table but she was not with us. She was elsewhere, somewhere apparently the best of the human mind and intention cannot reach her any longer. Ironically a few years earlier when we both had attended the same function, on the spur of the moment she wanted to recite. She was invited to the podium. She captivated and mesmerized the audience with her recitation.

I liken my mother’s state to a broken record and recorder, for lack of a better analogy. Her mind once recorded and stored countless poems she had taught her students. Anywhere, on the spur of moment, she could retrieve any one of them upon request and recite them. She loved poetry and recited them movingly. To distract her from her continued mourning of her younger son’s, my brother’s death, I asked her several months after his funeral if she would like to recite and let me record. She agreed. We went to a local park and I started recording as she recited from memory one poem after another. After an hour or so I stopped recording. I had run out of tape but she could continue on reciting.

Fortunately, she put her unusual talent to good use. Throughout her teaching career that spanned five decades, she directed group recitations and staged live presentations. The terms as such do not convey the sentiments their Armenian terms, Khmpayin Asmounk and Gentany Badger, respectively do. The former is a responsive recitation over a theme where soloists recite followed by the group responding or affirming in unison to what the person recited. The latter - Gentany Badger - is a live reenactment and thus the performers are attired accordingly and voice from a prepared text around a theme. Both are cherished traditions in Armenian schools although they seem to be dying nowadays. At one time no graduation ceremony would take place without one of them being performed on the stage.

Group recitation and live enactment texts have not been collected in books. After she retired from teaching she made her mission to record the texts of the group recitations and live reenactments she had taught her students and presented on stage. Their texts filled hundreds of handwritten pages. She had them arranged in several volumes. Each volume is titled after a theme reflected in the texts of the recorded group recitations in that volume. This book is a reproduction of two of these volumes. One is simply titled  Group Recitations (Khmpayin Asmounkner). The other is both group recitations and live enactment in memory of Vartanants.

Usually, the person who directed the group recitation or the live reenactment would have been the person who arranged the text around the theme by quoting from authors or by arranging an author’s poetry or prose in such a manner that it became a responsive group recitation or live enactment. She put together most of the group recitations she taught her students. In one such recitation, she cites having quoted from seven well-known authors. In another, she cites having quoted from eight authors. Naturally, it is not uncommon that the person who directed the recitation could also have presented an arrangement made by another person. In both cases, the person must have a good knowledge of the Armenian literature and the literary works of authors to put together such an arrangement around a theme and present it on stage.

Staging group recitation and or live enactment celebrating or commemorating an important Armenian historical date, such as the Battle of Avarayr the Armenians waged in 451 in defense of their right to worship their Christian religion or about the Armenian Genocide and others themes, cemented the sentimental bonds between the school and the community. It also became an avenue to delight the parents seeing their sons and daughters on the stage. The group reciting could number from a few students to many more. My mother claimed that she was always mindful to have many students in the group and many soloists taking part reciting thus giving an opportunity for many parents to see their children perform on the stage. It should be noted that group recitation did not require any elaborate stage preparation in having a group of students reciting in front of an audience made up mostly of their parents and relatives.

Group recitation and live enactment served a pedagogical purpose as well. Their staging helped train students express themselves publically.

My mother never warmed up to computers. She did not even attempt to sit in front of a monitor and have someone explain to her that computers can also be used as a typewriter of sorts she knew using. Many years ago she ordered a manual typewriter with Armenian fonts. They were not commonly available then and were made by special order. She never warmed up to it also. She found the fonts from the typewriter dull and unappealing. Had she warmed up to computers she could have learned that nowadays she would have a choice for different types of fonts and sizes. Having long given up typewriter she resorted to handwriting the group recitations and the live enactments in the several volumes that added up to hundreds of pages. She had a good handwriting. As I view the pages or read the recitations I remain at owe seeing her beautiful handwriting in straight lines over blank pages with the same consistency page after page. Her unusual memory became very helpful to her. Most of the group recitations and live enactments in these handwritten volumes were written from memory. Copying them from a source while making sure that they were copied correctly would have made her task exceedingly more difficult.

Why handwritten?

Finally, I might not be mistaken to say that she was the last of the Mohicans who practiced this art since she embarked on teaching as a young woman in Kessab, Syria and then in Beirut and in Bourj Hammoud in Lebanon and lastly in Los Angeles, California. The art seems to have died in Armenian schools, especially among the schools in the Western World. There is a good reason for it. The teacher and the students are not exempted from class to prepare a group recitation. A teacher had to make room during her lunch breaks and after school to have a group of willing students participate in the group recitation. That is what she did throughout those years. I am sure her uncanny ability to retain the recitation by heart helped her direct such presentations with relative ease. If a teacher were to hold the text and read from the text to train the group and subsequently continue on referring to text while hearing the students recite to correct their errors or remind them of the word or the sentence they might have forgotten would have made the task of training a group of students exceedingly difficult. In her case, she knew the group recitation by heart so it did not become difficult for her to correct a student, or remind the soloist or the group on that very spot of the word or the sentence they might have forgotten. I am sure she became a good example as well for the students to emulate. She claimed that having the group repeat the recitation over and over again is the key for successful stage presentation.

This book is meant to retain a glimpse of the art she practiced throughout her teaching career and to preserve her meticulous handwriting. Fewer and fewer of us nowadays in the Diaspora reads in Armenian, let alone writes in Armenian. Calligraphy in the caliber that was her norm has almost disappeared from our midst, as handwriting is becoming a thing of the past in this fast age of computers and word processing.

In the foreword of the volume reproduced within the cover of this book, she wrote about why she chose to handwrite instead of having the recitation typed. She also painstakingly noted that she does not want to think about the eventual fate of the volumes she prepared. The thought that they might be lost or ignored would grieve her immensely, she wrote. She ended the forward saying that she found this art nourishing her soul more than her nourishment for sustenance.

I want to believe that the publication of this volume would have put her concerns to rest.

Vahe H. Apelian

Loveland, OH

April, 2016