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#1 Ashot

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Posted 21 January 2011 - 03:45 AM

There is a small community of Armenians in Ethiopia, primarily in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The Armenian presence in Ethiopia is historic. On a religious basis, the Ethiopian Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church are both members of the Oriental Orthodox communion of churches alongside Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) churches. The Armenian inhabitants in Ethiopia are Armenian Apostolics (Orthodox Armenians) belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) have their own church, Sourp Kevork (St. George) Armenian Apostolic Church in Adis Ababa. The first-ever pastor of the Armenian community was Rev. Hovhannes Guevherian.

Besides the obvious religious affiliation, there is also the story of the Arba Lijoch children coming to Ethiopia after the Armenian Genocide. "Arba Lijoch" were a group of 40 Armenian orphans who had escaped from the atrocities in Turkey, and were afterwards adopted by Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, then Crown Prince Ras Tafari. He had met them while visiting the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem. They impressed him so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to adopt and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction.

The Arba Lijoch arrived in Addis Ababa in 1924, and along with their bandleader Kevork Nalbandian became the first official orchestra of the nation. Nalbandian also composed the music for Marsh Teferi (words by Yoftehé Negusé), which was the Imperial National Anthem from 1930 to 1974.

Armenians have a much older presence in Ethiopia. Indeed one of the first recorded diplomatic missions to Europe from Ethiopia was led by "Matthew the Armenian" who traveled to Portugal and Rome at the request of the Dowager Empress Eleni of Ethiopia to appeal for aid against Islamic incursions into Ethiopia in the 16th Century.


A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME: A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF ARMENIANS IN ETHIOPIA

Addis Ababa — When Mateos Armenawi embarked on his first diplomatic mission on behalf of an Ethiopian Queen in 1512, little did he know that he was paving the way for generations of Armenians to play an active role in Africa’s first Christian nation.

Armenawi, or Armenian in the Amharic language, was dispatched to Portugal via India to seek help in halting an Ottoman expansion toward Ethiopia. He returned after an arduous journey which took him ten years to complete only to die of ill health a few weeks later. But Armenawi had earned his place in the Ethiopian history books as a trusted emissary and skilled negotiator. A decade later, a fellow Armenian by the name of Murad was already following his footsteps by gaining prominent positions in the palaces of Ethiopian Kings and Emperors. He too traveled the world on behalf of Ethiopian royalty and is noted for his role as a key intermediary with a number of European states, and primarily Holland from where Murad brought back a massive bronze church bell which is considered one of the country’s historical treasures.

Armenawi and Murad were involved in the Ethiopian framework as individuals, and it was not until 1875 that Armenians began arriving in Ethiopia in significant numbers, setting the stage for what later became a small but influential community halfway around the globe from historical Armenia. Among those in the first wave was Kevork Terzian, a young caterer who entered the northern town of Harare with the Ottoman Army. Within a few years, young Kevork was established enough to send for his nephew from Arapkir in 1882 and soon, a growing Terzian clan was taking its place in the political and military establishment of Ethiopia.

“All this is recent history for me, most of which involves my father and uncles,” said Avedis Terzian, the elder statesman and doyen of the Armenian community of Ethiopia. Born in Harare in 1904, Avedis Terzian, is a walking encyclopedia on the evolution of Armenian community life in Ethiopia. Fluent in several languages including English and French, Avedis Terzian is still very much in public life. As honorary chairman of the Armenian Community Council of Ethiopia, he is seen as a moderating influence, constantly providing the moral impetus for the dwindling community. In his younger days, Avedis Terzian served as Oriental Secretary at the U.S. Embassy from 1928 to 1937 — a job which in effect made him the most senior liaison officer between the American Embassy and the Ethiopian government.

“I was not the only Armenian holding such a position. During those years we also had Ohannes Semerdjibashian who was the interpreter and Oriental Secretary at the British Embassy, Souren Tchekerian was at the Italian Embassy, Ardashes Peshtimaldji was at the French Embassy and Antranig Papazian was at the Egyptian Embassy,” he said. “Armenians have always had a special place in Ethiopian life despite their small numbers. It’s quality rather than quantity,” he said with a smile. Terzian’s father, who helped restore the town of Harare to Ethiopian rule in 1887, was named Governor of the Ethiopian town of Gildessa in 1888 and is credited with securing a vital road linking the city to the Djibouti coast.

“My father was also probably the first Armenian gun merchant in the world,” Terzian says. As a confidante of Ethiopian kings, Terzian’s father was asked to arm the Ethiopian military and sent on a secret mission to France in 1890 to purchase surplus weapons. Given the political sensitivities of the time, the French would only sell the hardware but declined the use of their national merchant fleet to transport the weapons to Ethiopia. Undeterred, Terzian secretly loaded the steel crates on a Dutch cargo vessel and transported them to the French colony of Djibouti for the land journey on camel back to Addis Ababa. “It was the biggest arms shipment of the time, and it included 80,000 rifles, 13 million rounds of ammunition, machine guns and 33 cannons. This earned my father a special status, just like Dikran Ebeyan who was the royal goldsmith,” he said.

The Terzians, Ebeyans and others like them were first generation Armenians who had come as young bachelors in search of fame and money. They set the stage for the first major wave of families to follow in the wake of the 1895 massacre of Armenians in Arapkir at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. “My father brought about a dozen of his relatives who had survived the first massacres. They were mainly women and children, thus forming the nucleus of the Terzian clan, first in Harare and then Addis Ababa itself. More immigrants came in 1908 and again after the great massacre of 1915 and later young men and women from Aintab, Marash, Izmir and Adana. What you see in Addis Ababa today are the children and grandchildren of these people, and I am the oldest among them,” Avedis Terzian said. One such group which is still remembered today are the 40 Armenian orphans brought to Addis Ababa by then Emperor Haile Selassie from Jerusalem.

“This was in 1923,” Terzian says. “Selassie, during a visit to the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, was very impressed by the performance of a brass band. When he found out that all 40 players were orphans of the 1915 massacres, he offered to adopt them.” “The group came to Addis Ababa with their bandmaster, Kevork Nalbandian, who later composed the now abandoned Ethiopian national anthem. He also founded the Ethiopian military band which exists until today,” Terzian said. With the influx of Armenians came the concept of organizing community life and that meant a school which opened its doors to a handful of children in 1915, just as new immigrants were coming. Initially a small private kindergarten, the facility developed into the Araradian National School only to be fragmented into three smaller schools run by rival political parties in the 1920’s and early 1930’s.

“The introduction of Armenian politics was a divisive factor for this community, starting with the arrival of Matig Kevorkoff, a Djibouti-based Armenian merchant from Constantinople who was Armenia’s first ambassador to Addis Ababa in 1920. The inter-factional squabbles led to Kevorkoff’s abrupt resignation and return to Djibouti with his wife,” Terzian said. Unshaken by what amounted to a diplomatic debacle, Kevorkoff talked the community into merging the three Armenian schools under one roof — thus forming the National Armenian Kevorkoff School which is still serving Addis Ababa Armenians today. “We were a powerful economic force in this country, and more so after the British entered Ethiopia in 1941. For 33 years, or until 1974, the Armenian community of Ethiopia was at its zenith. It’s a different story today,” Terzian said.


THE ARMENIANS OF ETHIOPIA: A COMMUNITY OF SURVIVORS
Ethiopia
by David Zenian

Addis Ababa — A Boeing 757 passenger jet has more seats than the number of Armenians living in Ethiopia, but there is more to what a community means than simple arithmetic. From a high 1,200 to a low of less than 150, the Armenian community today functions despite the drastic loss of manpower. It’s school is open, and so is the Armenian church and club. A handful of activists are keeping the community infrastructures alive in Ethiopia. Prominent businessman Vahag Karibian is busy revitalizing the AGBU which has already financed the purchase of new furniture for the Armenian community school. Others like Arakel Sakadjian are involved with the academic well-being of the school and various aspects of community life.

“It’s all a matter of faith in why you need to preserve your culture and heritage. There is nothing old fashioned about this,” Archdeacon Vartkes Nalbandian said in a recent interview. Once a community of influential traders, factory owners and goldsmiths, the Armenians of Ethiopia are gradually resembling a lost tribe, effectively isolated from fellow Armenians not only in such nearby African countries as Egypt and Sudan, but also the rest of the Diaspora and even Armenia.

“We have no newspapers and no organized communication with other Armenian communities. Most of us do not know what is happening in Armenia, and the very little we hear is from the Armenian broadcasts of Voice of America. “We are like a lost tribe which has survived hundreds of years simply by faith and a lot of hard work ... but the question is for how much longer?” community elder Avedis Terzian said. “You might find this strange coming from a 90-year-old Armenian born in Ethiopia, but with the wave of emigration the New Armenians are the Armenians of the United States, France, Canada, Australia and other western nations where people have a chance to develop into a new breed of Diaspora Armenians,” Terzian said.

Hundreds of Ethiopian-born Armenians have already settled in California and Canada, but for those who have chosen to stay “in the land of our grandfathers”, the battle of survival continues. And given the size of the community, the battle sometimes resembles a full-fledged war. Take the Armenian Kevorkoff Community School. Opened in 1935, the K-to-elementary school today has about 100 students of which only 11 are Armenians — including six children of mixed parents.

“Our annual budget is 12,000 dollars, and if we were to keep non-Armenians out of the school, we should have closed and gone home a long time ago,” says school principal Emma Gueverian. “Our kids need an Armenian education, and we can sustain that by accepting people from outside the community,” she says. The school’s weekly schedule includes ample hours of instruction in the Armenian language, history, geography and religion. Today, the school has a multi-national student body — including the children of several Egyptian embassy diplomats who prefer the Armenian community school over other private institutions because of “the clean family atmosphere at Kevorkoff.”

For the academic year ending June, 1994, three Armenian children will graduate from the Armenian elementary school and will, like others before them, hopefully make their way to the Melkonian Educational Institute of the Armenian General Benevolent Union in Nicosia, Cyprus. But the number of graduates will drop in the coming years if the demographic structure of the community does not improve with new births and less deaths.

According to available figures, two Armenian youngsters will graduate from Kevorkoff in 1995, but none in 1996 and 1997, and only one in 1998, two in the year 1999 and up to three again in the year 2000. Not an encouraging picture, as Archdeacon Vartkes Nalbandian sees it.

The community today consists of about half a dozen under 12 years old, five over 12 years old, 10 between the ages of 20-25, some in their mid-40’s and a majority of 60 to 80 year olds. According to church records for the period 1979-1994, there have been nine Armenian weddings in Addis Ababa, 37 births and 55 deaths. “This community is not growing in numbers. We are facing a very difficult future,” says the electromechanical engineer turned Archdeacon .

The St. Kevork Armenian Church, built in 1934, lost its last “real” clergyman in 1980, leaving the parish in limbo. “The Armenian and Ethiopian Orthodox churches are very close, but this community was not ready to get a clergyman from a non-Armenian church to bury its dead or baptize its children,” Nalbandian said. “For a while after the last priest left we used a tape recording of Holy Badarak as the centerpiece of our Sunday service. Imagine a handful of people sitting in church listening to the Divine Liturgy on tape,” he said. “This was not adequate, and as an ordained Archdeacon, I somehow took over. Now, for the past 14 years, I am a chemical engineer during the week and a man of the frock on Sundays.

“I do the occasional baptisms and a lot of funerals — and weddings if I am sure of the background of the couples involved. I also do the Holy Badarak every Sunday of the year — without any exceptions,” the forty-something Nalbandian said after a recent Sunday service at which his wife led the choir and his teenage son played the electric organ. “The last wedding was in 1990, and it involved a couple from Canada who wanted to get married in their place of birth for sentimental reasons,” he said. While the Armenian school and Church keep the community together, the Armenian Club helps cover the costs of maintaining the much-needed infrastructure. And it does that with style.

The “Ararat” Armenian Community Club has in recent years been widely recognized as the “place to be” for Addis Ababa’s diplomatic corps and visiting businessmen. The Club’s restaurant, also called Ararat, is “by reservation only” and foreign diplomats and others gladly pay annual membership fees to join. “This is one of the few places you can eat in Addis Ababa. It serves authentic Armenian food, and it is home cooking at its best,” a Swiss diplomat commented recently. A good income generating enterprise, the Ararat Club and restaurant pay for the facility to stay open, and produce enough cash to help the Armenian school and church balance their budget.

“With such a small community, we have learned to improvise. The old rich Armenians left many years ago, and now we have to take care of ourselves without a single cent of financial aid from outside. It is not easy, but we do it,” Nalbandian said.


Edited by Ashot, 21 January 2011 - 03:52 AM.

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#2 Ashot

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Posted 21 January 2011 - 06:08 AM

Something that catched my eye, is the languages they use - Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre and Blin - Do the first three names pull a string? Arpa?
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#3 Yervant1

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Posted 09 June 2016 - 10:12 AM

Armenian orphans and Ethiopian music

Contribution and development

Armenians have been living in Ethiopia for centuries; however, their
contribution to the local music during the tenure of Emperor Haile
Selassie I (1930-74) is the most interesting episode of this presence.
PAN tells how Armenians found a place in the Ethiopian musical
environment and promoted its development.
June 9, 2016

PanARMENIAN.Net - Haile Selassie I (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975),
born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to
1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Among the Rastafari
movement, whose followers are estimated at between two and four
million, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the
Bible, God incarnate. Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari
movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead
a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity.

Rita Marley, Bob Marley's wife, converted to the Rastafari faith after
seeing Haile Selassie on his Jamaican trip. She claimed in interviews
(and in her book No Woman, No Cry) that she saw a stigmata print on
the palm of Haile Selassie's hand as he waved to the crowd which
resembled the markings on Christ's hands from being nailed to the
cross—a claim that was not supported by other sources, but was used as
evidence for her and other Rastafari to suggest that Haile Selassie I
was indeed their messiah. She was also influential in the conversion
of Bob Marley, who then became internationally recognized. As a
result, Rastafari became much better known throughout much of the
world. Bob Marley's posthumously released song "Iron Lion Zion" refers
to Haile Selassie.

In 1916, when Tafari Makonnen became de facto ruler of Ethiopia, the
country’s development and modernization began. During a trip to Europe
in 1924, he stopped over in Jerusalem, where he met a group of
Armenian orphans, who survived the Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
These kids were destined to have a big role in the development of
Ethiopian music.

Tafari Makonnen’s wife Menen Asfaw was in Jerusalem in April 1923. She
met with Armenian Patriarch Yeghishe Tourian to congratulate him on
Easter and also paid a visit to the Armenian neighborhood. She was
accompanied by Araxi Yezechian, the manager of a royal carpet plant,
whose husband headed Ethiopia’s secret service. Empress Menen’s mother
was the god mother of Araxi’s daughter, Anna. Enjoying close ties with
the royal family, Araxi offered Menen to see Araratyan orphanage which
hosted over 400 children from Van and Erzerum.

“When she saw us, she couldn’t hold her tears. She didn’t stay long
and was taken back to the hotel. I was surprised because I saw an
unknown black queen and disappointed because the meeting ended so
quickly,” one the orphans, Noyemzar Malkhasian-Vardanian said when
remembering visit.

Menen Asfaw made a donation to the orphanage and promised to help the
children. Upon returning to Ethiopia, she told her husband about the
orphans and asked him to do something. Next year, Tafari Makonnen
himself visited the orphanage in Jerusalem and watched the performance
of a wind band there. Being much impressed by the talent of the young
musicians, he offered the orphanage administration to let him take the
children and create a royal orchestra. The administration could not
refuse, as the Regent also obliged to cover the travel expenses and
provide accommodation and funds for the orphans.

On September 6, 1924, the orphan musicians led by their supervisor
arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where they were met by
officials and members of the Armenian community. On the next day, they
were received by the Regent, who pledged to assist them in every way.
Soon, a royal orchestra was formed and named Arba Lijoch (40 boys)
under the guidance of Genocide survivor Kevork Nalbandian (1887-1963).

The orchestra gained popularity and in 1926, by the Regent’s order,
Nalbandian composed the country’s anthem. On November 2, 1930, they
performed during the coronation of Regent Tafari as Haile Selassie I,
the Emperor of Ethiopia.

According to experts, Arba Lijoch made a great contribution to the
development of music trends in Ethiopia. Although there existed some
wind bands in the country before the boys’ arrival, they mostly played
folk instruments. Armenian musicians performed numerous concerts,
while the locals started mastering new instruments.

During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941, the
orchestra ceased performing; however Kevork Nalbandian and some of its
members continued their activity. In the war time, Armenian musicians
traveled to the front to raise the morale of the Ethiopian army.

Besides the royal orchestra, Nalbandian, who held a captain’s rank,
initiated formation of Ethiopian royal guards. Since 1946, he headed
the music band of Addis Abbaba Theater. One of the members of Arba
Lijoch, Karapet Hakalmazian, came to lead the capital police orchestra
in 1828. Hagop Manukian headed the same orchestra in 1950-60, while
Karpis Haykazian founded the first Ethiopian recording studio.

In 1954, Nalbandian founded Yared music school at Addis Abbaba
University to raise a new generation of musicians and reveal modern
trends. His nephew, Nerses Nalbandian, who arrived in Ethiopia in
1930s, inherited the helm in 1949. Upon the Emperor’s request, he
became the head of the royal orchestra. Being a musician himself,
Nerses played violin, piano and saxophone. A composer and conductor,
he participated in all significant events of the Ethiopian music life.

Following his uncle, he succeeded in combining the best traditions of
the Ethiopian folk music and western classical and jazz motives, what
especially helped worldwide promotion of Ethiopian jazz.

Samson Hovhannisyan / PanARMENIAN.Net

https://urldefense.p...Fjnko64nSKng&e=
 



#4 Yervant1

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Posted 22 November 2017 - 12:47 PM

News.am, Armenia
Nov 22 2017
 
 
Ethiopian prince praises relations with Armenia at Armenian Assembly reception (PHOTOS)
20:33, 22.11.2017
 
 
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and its Capital Region Council hosted its Annual Holiday Reception this month, with special guest His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie of Ethiopia.

Prince Ermias spoke highly of the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Armenia that dates back centuries.

“At this point, it is both important and gratifying to know our two people - Ethiopia and Armenia - have been colleagues longer than most of the nations on this planet. Indeed, the Imperial Family has taken note of the active trade and civil relationships between Ethiopians and Armenians, extending back to the 3rd Century A.D. Moreover, Armenians and Ethiopians share a rich and historic connection as members of the same branch of Orthodox Christianity, as well as perhaps lesser known stories of the invaluable Armenian contributions to Ethiopian history,” Prince Ermias said.

Prince Ermias, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, recalled the story of his grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie I, and his encounters with Armenians. In 1924, when the Emperor was visiting Jerusalem, he came across a marching band of forty Armenian youngsters. When he asked who they were, he was told that they were all orphans who had escaped Ottoman Turkey during the Armenian Genocide. After listening to the band play, the Emperor was “struck by the band's musical talent.” Thereupon the Emperor asked for permission from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to adopt and bring the musicians to Ethiopia.

The Armenian musicians were then known as the “Arba Lijoch,” which means forty children in Amharic, and were trained in Ethiopia by musical director Kevork Nalbandian. Nalbandian was an Armenian Genocide survivor, originally from Aintab in the southeastern region of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Armenian musicians came to form the Royal Imperial Brass Band, beginning a tradition in modern Ethiopian music of heavily using brass instruments. Amazed by their progress and skill, Emperor Selassie asked Nalbandian to compose a national anthem for Ethiopia. On November 2, 1930, the Emperor's coronation day, the Arba Lijoch unveiled the Imperial National Anthem, Marsh Teferi, which was Ethiopia's official anthem from 1930 to 1974. Prince Ermias told the audience that these Armenians became known as the "forerunners in the modernization of mainstream music in Ethiopia."

Assembly Board Member Annie Totah expressed her gratitude to Prince Ermias, her personal friend, for his kind words about the Armenians. "We thank you so very much for joining and educating us about the situation in Africa, and thank you for having presented to us the history about Armenians in Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie welcomed us - the Armenians - and we have an ideal, mutually beneficial and fantastic relationship between both countries," Totah said.

Over 100 guests attended the Holiday Reception, including Armenian Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Grigor Hovhannissian with his wife Victoria and Artsakh Permanent Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan with his wife Elvina.

In his remarks, Ambassador Hovhannissian noted that Ethiopia has a special place in the hearts of Armenians. He also recognized the Assembly's advocacy work, as well as the grassroots activism and dedication of its members.

“We are very mindful and cognizant of the tremendous effort that the Armenian Assembly of America has been making towards the development of Armenia and towards building and strengthening relations with the United States,” Ambassador Hovhannissian stated. “You have many, many dedicated members, and Armenia is blessed to have them among its most committed friends,” he added.

Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny briefed the audience on the Assembly's accomplishments this past year and explained the challenges ahead. He emphasized the continued efforts to increase membership in the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, which is currently at 113, as well as urging Members to withdraw from the Turkish and Azeri Caucuses. Both Ardouny and Totah encouraged the audience to contact their Representatives and educate them on the importance of strengthening U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Artsakh relations.

Following the speeches, Dr. Naira Babayan, a member of the Armenian Assembly, performed an Armenian musical selection, including Krunk (Stork) by Komitas, Six Dances by Komitas, and Dance of Sasun by A. Arutiunian.

%D5%A12.JPG

https://news.am/eng/news/422423.html


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#5 Yervant1

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Posted 03 March 2020 - 08:52 AM

BBC, UK
March 2 2020
 
 
 
 
Letter from Africa: Ethiopia's lost Armenian community
 
_111075440_insidechurch.jpgImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES_109028083_1px_white_line-nc.png

In our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe takes a trip to Ethiopia to find out about a lost community.

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My search for the last Armenians of Ethiopia began in Piassa, the bustling commercial centre of the old part of the capital, Addis Ababa.

On previous visits to the city, I had always been intrigued by the snippets I had heard about the community and its history.

There had long been a connection between Ethiopia and Armenia through the Orthodox Church. But this developed beyond priests, to bring in diplomats and traders.

In the 19th Century, a handful of Armenians played a vital role in the court of Emperor Menelik II.

And later, in the early 20th Century, a community settled that went on to have an economic and cultural impact in the country.

_111075441_church2.jpgImage copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThere are still church services on special occasions_109028083_1px_white_line-nc.png

On a sticky afternoon, I stood outside the gates of the exquisite St George Armenian Apostolic Holy Church that was built in the 1930s.

It looked closed but I called out "selam" - "hello" in Amharic.

A confused-looking elderly security guard came out and after I explained that I wanted to look around, he went to fetch Simon, the Armenian-Ethiopian caretaker.

The quiet, dignified man came out and told me that they do not get many visitors.

Haile Selassie's influence

The church is rarely open, as there is no priest these days, and the community, of no more than 100, is mostly elderly.

Inside the church, the altar is ornately decorated and red Persian rugs cover the floor.

This was the heart of the community that began to grow in numbers during the rule of Haile Selassie who, as Ras Tafari, became prince regent of Ethiopia in 1916 and Emperor from 1930 to 1974.

Under his leadership, Ethiopia began to rapidly modernise and Armenian courtiers, businessmen and traders played an important role in this transition.

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In 1924, Ras Tafari visited the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem, where he met a group of 40 children who had been orphaned by the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One.

Moved by their plight, he asked the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem if he could take them to Ethiopia and look after them there.

The 40 orphans, or arba lijoch in Amharic, were all trained in music and went on to form the imperial brass band of Ethiopia.


Ismail Einashe
Despite their small numbers the Armenian community had a crucial role in ushering Ethiopia into the modern world"
Ismail Einashe
Journalist
_109028083_1px_white_line-nc.png

They were led by an Armenian, Kevork Nalbandian, who composed the imperial anthem.

The community reached its zenith in the 1960s when it numbered 1,200.

Despite their small numbers they had a crucial role in ushering Ethiopia into the modern world - from helping to develop the distinctive Ethiopian jazz style to working as tailors, doctors, business people and serving in the imperial court.

Emperor's overthrow

But as the Armenian community was tied to the imperial history of the country, once the emperor fell the community declined.

Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 by the Marxist Derg junta, which went on to seize businesses and property, including that of the Armenians.

Their numbers tumbled as many fled to North America and Europe.

But a few stayed and some married within the local community, creating a unique blend of Armenian and Ethiopian cultures.

They can still be seen in the church for special religious celebrations.

_111071038_gettyimages-470366406.jpgImage copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe Armenian social club still serves traditional food

But there is also the Armenian social club, which has a restaurant that reminds people of the taste of home.

Simon, the church caretaker, told me that I should go.

Delicious food

It was a Tuesday night and, apart from my friend and myself, there was a group of three Armenian-Ethiopian women who were delighted to see strangers in the restaurant.

They admitted that the community was not what it used to be. But the social club remained as a way to keep it alive.

That night, as I tucked into delicious and sumptuous börek and lyulya kebabs, I felt I was tasting the history of the Armenians in Ethiopia.

https://www.bbc.com/...u-xnjRV9mU_M4LE


#6 Yervant1

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Posted 17 October 2021 - 07:30 AM

Face2Face Africa
Oct 16 2021


HISTORY

When Ethiopia took in Armenian refugees

JULIAN MCBRIDE
October 16, 2021 at 09:00 am | HISTORY

pngI6lNa94NTS.png
Haile Selassie. Photo: EPA

Africa is a continent known for some of the richest histories of mankind. Each nation has its own story to tell of persistence, plight, and humbleness. One such nation is Ethiopia who shares a strong connection to various other ethnicities outside of Africa. One such group of people are Armenians, who also share a very ancient and rich history. When Armenians became scattered, demoralized, and suffered one of the worst genocides in human history, Ethiopia opened its doors to them, leaving a long-lasting bond.

The Armenian Genocide is infamously known as the brutal acts of liquidation against 1.5 million innocent Armenians who lived under the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turks regime. The genocide also incorporated the deaths of 1 million Greeks, 500,000-750,000 Assyrians, and 200,000-400,000 Maronites. Orphanages were set up across the Middle East to care for the orphans, as many of their parents were killed. These orphanages were underfunded with barely any self-sufficient funds to feed Armenians, especially in the brutal winters.

One such orphanage was in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where a group of 40 Armenian orphans specialized in instruments. They were known as the ‘Arba Lijoch‘ and they were a communion of 40 Armenian orphans that were adopted by Ethiopian Crown Prince Ras Tafari Makonnen (later emperor Haile Selassie I).

In 1924, Prince Ras Tafari visited the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where the Armenian Orphans played a beautiful percussion piece for the crown prince. Prince Ras Tafari was so impressed by the orphans’ musical talents and heartbroken when he heard of their personal stories of the genocide. He personally adopted all of them from the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. He housed them, fed them, and paid for their formal musical education in Ethiopia.

The Arba Lijoch would play a major role in Ethiopian society under the leadership of Ras Tafari. Not only were they a professional band in the empire, but they also wrote the national anthem used under HIM’s rule. The Armenian who wrote the Ethiopian National Anthem was Kevork Nalbandian, whose nephew, Narses, would continue the band and musical performances in Addis Ababa.

Along with paying for their musical and scholarly education, Ras Tafari, who took up the crown name His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, allowed Nerses Nalbandian and Kevork Nalbandian to create the Ethiopian National Anthem, used from his coronation in 1930 to 1974. The Armenian orphans were also handpicked personally by HIM to play at his coronation as Emperor of Ethiopia, who rejected any foreign bands as he considered the Armenians as his “family.”

Outside of the Arba Lijoch, the Royal photographer of Haile Selassie was also an Armenian named Haigaz Boyajian, and their church and community would play a prominent role in Ethiopian society afterwards.

Ethiopia has always been a home and place of refuge for those in need and one of the greatest deeds in its history was the day they took in Armenian refugees in need. Not only were these refugees given new lives in their new homes, but they were also able to excel and play a major role in the modern foundations of the Ethiopian Empire. To this day, the descendants of the Arba Lijoch carry photos and documents of the memories made in the heart of Africa.


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#7 MosJan

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Posted 17 May 2023 - 11:24 AM






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