Vahe H Apelian
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| Courtesy Ara Ghazarian |
The attached is the only painting of our village Keurkune, Kessab in Syria. I first came across this painting on Ara Ghazarian’s Facebook page and I posted it on my Facebook page. That was twelve years ago, on December 2014. It elicited a few comments. Among them Garo Knoyalian wrote, “wow, who has done this oil painting and where is the original?”. Stepan J Apelian commented and said, “this painting was framed and on my office wall next to the new keorkune picture. This, was sent to me by late Khachig Chelebian from Australia, but he did not know who was the painter.”
I gathered the following information about the painting from Ara Ghazarian. The painting belonged to her aunt Marie Ghazarian-Nichols. He said that she had an Armenian painter from Iran in California paint it for her. She had presented to the painter a picture of Keurkune from a pictorial album about Kessab, the Beirut Kessab Association, Ousoumnasirats, had prepared in 1955. The album was dedicated to the Ovsia Saghdejian, the beloved Dayee of Kessab and it was edited by the later bishop Terenig Poladian. We can then conclude that the oil painting depicts Keurkune in 1955 and it was painted a few years later, sometime in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s.
The painting, in fact, depicts Keurkune of my childhood days. I numbered a few landmarks and posted a few comments. Much can be written about this unique village.
No 1, is our paternal grandfather’s house built in late 1800’s. My paternal cousins Stepan and Ara were born and raised in that house. Later on, Stepan and Ani raised their children Tsolag, Shoghag, Hovag in that historic house. It still stands, renovated.
Next to it, No. 10, depicts Manesh nanar’s – grandma’s house – at least that is how I remember it. The two houses next to each other had one common wall.
No. 2 is Keurkune’s unfinished school whose roof remained unfinished for the following many years. The room of the left room was finished early in late 1960’s where classed were held. The room on the right-hand side was finished later on. Stepan, had a vision of rendering it into a soap museum. I let him comment about the building.
No. 3 is Keurkune’s historic church built in 1898. Its mason was Arch. Ardavast Terterian’s grandfather. There is much to write about the church and has been written too.
No.4, at the far end of the village is its cemetery.
No. 5, is where the village’s olive oil press – Nofer’s mangana – was located.
No. 6, is the cluster of homes, including my maternal grandmother’s house.
No. 7, the communal threshing lots for the villagers were located, for threshing the harvested wheat.
No. 8, was our paternal grandfather’s lot where he planted wheat, chickpeas, and later on it became the apple orchard.
No. 9, is where Chalaba Nanar’s house. She was my maternal grandfather’s Khatcher Chelebian’s sister Marie, married to Hapel Apelian.
No. 11, I knew the household there are Karakeuni’s. The cluster of the trees there were prime bird hunting ground.
The rest are Apelian, Bedirian, Kerbabian, Chelebian households.
Much has changed and there is little resemblance of the way it was.
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| Marie Ghazarian-Nichols, Courtesy Armenian Weekly (see the link) |
This is what her nephew Ara Ghazarin wrote about her aunt Marie-Ghazarian-Nichols (1920-2023). "My aunt passed away January 22 at the age of 102. She was born in Keorkune a village near Kessab Syria she was orphaned at young age and sent to an orphanage in Aleppo , she learned nursing in Altounian establishment, she moved to Beirut where her 4 younger brothers and mother were settled. She worked in AUB maternity ward. She also worked in a British hospital in Khan Younes in Gaza Strip working for United Nations. In 1953 she migrated to Canada and lived in Penticton BC. My deepest condolences to her daughter Johanna her son Albert and her twin grandchildren Sienna and Jera.”
The painting remains with MarieGhazarian-Nichols family, in Canada.
Link: In Memory of Marie Marlene Ghazarian Nichols:
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