| Azarians in the Armenian Catholic Records in Constantinople |
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Azarians Marina, a woman from St. Illuninator's Armenian Apostolic Church, New York City who translated several of the Azarian records, told me that Azarian was a common Armenian name. Looking at all of the church records microfilmed by the LDS, there are not a lot of records for Azarian in the Catholic Church records in Istanbul. There were several Azarian records from the 1800s and into the 1900s in churches not frequented by Abram Azarian and his known kin. There is no established relationship between Abram and these other Azarians and they will be looked at in a separate section below. The records in the churches specifically connected with Abraham Azarian and his kin are very limited and with one exception are connected. There were five Azarians living in Constantinople in the 1890s through 1920s who had rites performed at the same churches as Abram and who have some (however tenuous) connections to each other and to Abram Azarian. They were Melcon, Abraham, Artin, Stepan, and Holcomb.
Other Azarians in The Records As mentioned, the number of Azarians in the Catholic parishes in Istambul is, in fact, quite limited. The names are distinct enough that several of the Azarian families can be followed from one parish to another. At this time I do not know if any of these Azarian families were related to Abraham Azarian. The records show that there were Azarians in Constantinople as early as 1831. The records for Abraham and Lucy Azarian and their extended families were found in the churches of Surp Savour, Holy Trinity, and Surp Ohannes. Most of the records were connected with Surp Savour. Therefore, I will deal with these churches first. The Azarians in the Surp Savour Records Baptisms The baptismal records for Surp Savour started in 1888 and were divided by the first letter of the surname. Under the "A" there were 25 baptisms listed between 1888 and 1914 including the baptisms for the following Azarian and Arivian children:
All of the Azarian records for Surp Savour are directly connected to Abram Azarian or his brother, Artin. Marriages The marriage register for Surp Savour was divided by the first letter of the groom's surname. There are records from 1846-1847. There is a break and the records restart in 1882. Between 1882 and 1898 there were 20 marriages performed for couples where the groom's names started with the letter "A". Included in these marriages were the marriages for the Azarians and Arivians:
Deaths The death register for Surp Savour Catholic Church started in 1890 and was divided by the first letter of the surname. I have not completely translated the death records because there are a lot of words I do not understand. The following numbers of deaths were recorded under the letter "A" from 1890 to 1913 in the order listed: two in 1890, one in 1892, two in 1895, one in 1896, in 1897, Arispages Azarian ----, son of Hovhanno, one in 1899 , one in 1904, one in 1902, one in 1903, one in 1905, one in 1907, in 1906 Bibros Azarian, son of Arispagisi, one in 1907, one in 1908, and two in 1913. The death of Abraham's daughter Zabel was not listed. The death records for Surp Savour include two Azarian deaths:
From these records we know that Arisbageo was the son of Hovhanno and that he in turn had a son named Bibtos. These are two of the names of the Azarians who are in the book Farihi Surp Agop Hastanemizin Dunu ve Bugunu . Were they related to Abraham? Other records for Bedros and Arispages were found in the Church of Saint Paul. These records will be discussed below under St Paul. Also see Arisdages Azarian below. (The family of Abraham had no apparent relationship with the church of St. Paul.) The record for Azarian in Surp Savour in order of date are:
There were 10 records in a 19 year span. This is quite a small number. Eight of these records were directly connected to Abraham or his brother, Haroutin. The two remaining records relate to Arispages Azarian. Holy Trinity Baptisms The baptismal register of Holy Trinity Catholic Church is on microfilm #1037106. The register is divided by the first letter of the surname. There appear to be several sets of records and the dates are not always in order. There are eight pages of baptisms for the letter "A" from Holy Trinity. These pages in the order they appear on the micofilm are as follows:
The first two entries on page five are the same as two of the entries on page 4. All of the other entries are different. Entry number two is the baptism of Christine Azarian, the daughter of Abraham Azarian and Lousia Arivian, godfather Avitis Hagopian, 1899. The hand writing on pages four and five is different.
Deaths There is one death record for Azarian from Holy Trinity dated 1931. I have not been able to translate it. *Anton, Aristonis and Bibros are the Azarians whose pictures are in the book Farihi Surp Agop Hastanemizin Dunu ve Bugunu Surp Hovan Baptisms There are seven pages of records for the letter "A" for the church of Surp Ohannes. Again the dates jump around quite a bid . These pages are in order of how they appeared on the microfilm as follows:
A count was taken of these records and next to each name a number was entered. The numbers start with 47 and continue 407, keeping the order in the pages as I have listed them. This results in some baptisms that occurred in the late 1800s being listed after baptisms that occurred in the early 1900s. I have kept them in the order in which they were listed. The Azarians and Arivians in the Surp Ohannes baptismal records are:
Marriages The marriage records for Surp Ohannes for the letter "A" from 1863 to 1878 listed under the first letter of the groom's surname include two Azarians out of 40 marriages listed during that time period:
Deaths St. Paul Baptisms There were seventeen baptisms listed in St. Paul's Church under the letter "A" from 1880 to 1893. Ten of these baptisms were Azarians. There appear to have been three families of Azarians having children in the parish at the time:
I have not translated these records completely. Josep Azarian and his wife had:
Bedros Azarian and Tagouji Marouzian had:
Josep Azarian and Lousia Ananian had:
The first Josep had a different father than Bedros. There seems to be a connection between Bedros and the second Josep Azarian. Bedros was sponsor to Josep's children and Josep was a sponsor to Bedros' children. It's too bad that the records for the second Josep's children don't list the name of Josep's father. St Mary Baptisms The records for Saint Mary's were also listed by the first letter of the last name. The first set of records for St Mary's date from 1849 to 1873 and appear to be a little mixed up date wise. The order is odd with 1849 following 1873. There are only three baptisms listed for the name Azarian. The first is listed in 1872, then 1873, and finally 1849. The handwriting is very tiny, making it harder than usual to read. However it is very neat and consistent making the patterns of the names quite clear. Although there are some slight variations in spelling, it is clear that two of these baptisms were listed in the "City of Istanbul" list (see below). The three baptisms are:
I need to work on these translations. I do not know it they are related to Abraham Azarian. There are no Azarian marriages listed in St Mary's records for the 1900s. Baptisms in the City of Istanbul The last set of records that I have came under a heading, "Baptisms in the City of Istanbul", film #1037109. for the years 1831 to 1883. There are a number of Azarians listed. I have not translated very much of this record. I have no information on how this list was formed or why. I have no idea under whose auspices it was made. I don't know if it is for the Catholic or Apostolic church or both. The churhes are not indicated on this list. The list does not include the baptisms from St. Paul's church listed above so whatever it is it cannot be a complete listing of the baptisms for the entire city of Istanbul. It does however include the baptisms of Haro, the child of Jacob, and Aza-ni, the daughter of Anton Azarian, both recorded under St Mary's Church. According to the list called "Baptism, City of Istanbul", there were 22 Azarian baptisms recorded in Constantinople between 1831 and 1883 (a period of 52 years). Even without a complete translation it can be observed that there is some interrelation between several of these records. Five of these baptisms are for the children of Josep and Miriam Azarian. The godfather for all the baptisms of their children appears to be the same person. There were three baptisms for the children of Anton Azarian and Srbou-Mazapian. There were two baptisms for the children of Hinin Azarian and his wife, Maria:
There is the gap in the records.
There is a break of a number of years.
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| Stephanos Peter Azarian Stephanos Peteros Azarian was the Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church from 1881-1899. He was born in 1826. The information on the internet says he was born in Constantinople. | |||||||||||
![]() Stepanow Pedros X Azarian (1881-1899)
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| Photo by Maggie Land Blanck, May 2008 Memorial inscription for for Stephanos Peter Azarian in the the Armenian Catholic Church of Surp Asdvadzadzin (the Immaculate Conception), Istanbul. | |||||||||||
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| Photo by Maggie Land Blanck, May 2008 Portrait of Stephanos Petros Azarian in the Archpishop's residence in Istanbul. |
| Arisdages Azarian, son of Hovhannes Azarian and
Anna Kovhovmjian, born 1821 Birth: 1/13 January 1821, the son of Hovhannes Azarian and Anna Kovhovmjian (Per monument inscription in the Azarian Mausoleum in the Armenian Catholic Cemetery, Istanbul) Marriage: 15/27 June 1841, Hripsimeh Petmez daughter of Hovsepah and Mariamah Petmez (Combination of his grave marker and her grave marker) Children:
Death of Hripsimeh Azarian: Haripsime Azarian daughter of Hovsepah and Mariamah Petmes born 1821 married Arisdages Azarian 15/27 June 1841 died 13 February 1883. Death of Arisdages: Arisdages Azarian son of Hovhannos Azarian and Anna Kovjovmian born 1/13 Janaury 1821, married Hripsime Petmez 15/27 June 1841 died 6/18 May 1897 (1897 Per monument inscription in the Azarian Mausoleum in the Armenian Catholic Cemetery, Istanbul) To see a photo of the Mausoleum go to Armenian Catholic Churches, Istanbul Arisdages Azarian, son of Hovhanno, May 6, 1897, place of residence (I can't read it yet but it is not Galatia) ------------, Dobouviah, Gatouan, cant read anything else. (Death records of Surp Savour Armenian Catholic Church, Istanbul on LDS microfilm)
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Image from Farihi Surp Agop Hastanemizin Dunu ve Bugunu with the kind permission of His Excellency
Archbishop Hovhannes Colakyan
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| Photo Maggie Land Blanck, April 2008 Grave marker of Hripsimeh Azarian |
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| Photo Maggie Land Blanck, April 2008
Grave Marker of Arisdages Azarian |
| Anton (Anthony) Azarian
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| Hovsep (Joseph) Azarian
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| Bedros (Peter) Azarian
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John and Brendan Freely in "a Guide to Beyoglu" state that #17 Bankalar Caddesi:
"Jeneral Han. Built in 1904-05, this was originally known as the Azarian Han, after its original owner, Bedros Azarian, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. |
| Azarian Mansion Istanbul ??? When we were in Istanbul in April/May 2008 our local sources told us that this mansion on Istiklal Cadessi once belonged to the Azarian family, a group of merchant brothers from Sivas. However, John and Brendan Freely's "A Guide to Beyogly" says: "This building was erected in 1870 by Koceoglu Agop Efendi, a wealthy Armenian banker during the reigns of sultan Abdul Mecet and Abdul Aziz, the latter having a private suite here. Since 1948 the building has housed the Atlas Cinima, and it is also the home of the Kucuk Sadri Theater and the Culture Ministry's State Gallery of Fine Arts, which sells antiques, gifts and Stamps. The entryway to the cinema leads into a monumental neo-classical hall flanked by marble colonnades."According to Archbishop Hovhannes J Tcholakian's book L'Eglise Armenianne Catholicque en Turquie Hagop Guetcheyan who was the owner of many properties in Beyoglu built this mansion/hotel after a big fire ravaged much of Pera in 1870. Guetcheyan was a major contibuter to the construction of the chruch of St Jean Chrysostome. |
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| Photo Maggie Blanck, April 2008 |
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| Photo Maggie Blanck, April 2008 |
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| Photo Maggie Blanck, April 2008 |
| Azarian Mansion Buyukdere, Bosporus
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| Photo by Koko Capan, May 2008 This 19th century wooden villa located on the Bosporus in Buyukdere, Istanbul in now the Sadberk Hanim Museum. One of the largest mansions in Buyukdere is is the former "Azeryan Yalisi" (Azarian waterside mansion). There is a lot on the Internet about the musuem but little or nothing about the Azarian family that once owned it. According to our sorces in Istanbul at the time of our May 2008 visit it belonged the the Armenian Catholic family of Azarians from Sivas. There are a few hints of things related to the museum and to Azaryans on some Turkish websites. Turkey Travel Planner says: "The villa, once the summer residence of Manuk Azaryan Efendi, an Ottoman Armenian who was Speaker of the upper house of the Ottoman parliament, has been beautifully restored and now serves as the Art History section of the museum." |
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| Palais Azaryan - Azaryan sarayi - Palais des Eaux Argentees - Gumussuyu - Beyoglu - Istanbul Ottoman Empire (1453-1923) its in Taksim, Beyoglu |
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