AN EMINENT MOTHER-DAUGHTER WRITING DUO IN ARMENIA
by Tom Vartabedian
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Tuesday March 23, 2010
Yerevan – One book doesn’t necessarily make an accomplished author
but with Knarig Svazlian, it’s a step in the right direction.
The 41-year-old just published a work titled "The History of the
Armenian Community in America, " dating back to 1618 when Armenians
first set foot on this land to the period just following the genocide
in 1924.
For that, she feels a sense of accomplishment and gratitude after
eight years of arduous research. But more than that, she’d like
nothing better than to catch up with her mother some day.
That’s a rather tall order. Dr. Vermin Svazlian, a noted folklorist
and ethnographer, has authored no fewer than 23 books in various
languages. At age 75, she has no intentions of slowing down but rather
heightened by the literary and historic word.
Her latest, "The Armenian Genocide and The People’s Historical Memory,"
documents the eyewitness accounts of 700 survivors throughout Armenia
and the Diaspora.
Together, they represent the eminent mother-daughter writing duo
of Armenia.
We met the Svazlians over lunch at a popular restaurant in Yerevan
called "Sherlock Holmes." In their hands were copies of their books
and a wealth of information regarding the Armenian Question and other
vital matters.
Much as the daughter spent eight years compiling her work, the mother’s
book proved more gregarious, beginning in 1955, and extending a half
century. Wherever Dr. Svazlian attended a conference, her notepad
and video camera were sure to follow.
As fate would have it, not one of the 700 survivors she encountered
is alive today.
"When my father died, his final words to me at age 14 were well
calculated," said Dr. Svazlian. "He wanted me to become an intelligent,
tireless worker for the homeland. He was a genocide survivor and
wanted to write this book. I wrote it for him."
The 1,600-page publication was ultimately translated into seven
languages and subsidized by the Armenian government on the 90th
anniversary of the Genocide.
Editor Sarkis Harutyunian, associate member, National Academy of
Sciences for Republic of Armenia, calls it "an enormously laborious
and gratifying work designed to save and perpetuate the unique memoirs
and songs depicting this tragic and heroic history."
"In this study, the author skillfully conjoined her rich and diverse
materials with actual historical evidence," he said. "They support
to great extent the defense of the Armenian Case and, in particular,
refute the distorted accounts of history as written by Turkish and
pro-Turkish historians."
As much as Dr. Svazlian’s literary achievements have been inspired
by her dad, no doubt Knarig remains a chip off her mother’s block.
Granted the output is far askew but the spirit remains on a parallel
course.
"My mother played a major role in the publication of my book with her
ability to translate and her concise economic ways," said Knarig. "I’m
indebted to her in a lot of ways, especially the way she motivates
me to write."
She praises her mom’s vast literary accomplishments and admits to
gaining a strong influence by both parents. Her father is an attorney
and also writes. His stories touch upon the social and human climate
of Armenia. The family lives in a 3-room Yerevan tenement and shares
one computer.
"It doesn’t mean the other two stop writing when I’m using the
computer," Knarig says. "They prefer having me use the updated
technology while they write in long-hand, then pay to have it printed.
They’re usually sacrificing for me."
Knarig started her project in 1992 and finished eight years later with
a completed volume of 240 pages. A second edition is being compiled
from 1924 to the present. Among those contributing to the project
are Professor Dennis Papazian, Nancy Kolligian, Mark Mamigonian,
Van Aroian, Gary Lind-Sinanian, NAASR and ALMA.
Why America?
"A family matter close to the heart," she points out. "My
great-grandfather (Mehran Svazlian) was founder of the first Armenian
lobbying organization in America which took place in Boston in 1917.
He also published the Armenian Herald Journal for five years."
With a doctorate in history from Yerevan State University, Verjine
Svazlian continues to teach and lecture on Diasporan history at the
National Academy of Sciences. Her $120 monthly salary is irrelevant.
"I don’t work for money," she says. "I work for the idea — for the
welfare of my country and the preservation of our history so those
outside our race will recognize the genocide and respect our people
with moral understanding."
About Dr. Verjine Svazlian Dr. Verjine Svazlian, 75, author,
ethnographer, folklorist, was born in 1934 in Alexandria (Egypt)
in the family of writer Karnik Svazlian, an eyewitness survivor of
the Armenian Genocide.
She had her elementary education at the local Poghossian Armenian
National School and secondary education at the Armenian Nuns’
Immaculate Conception School with a French language bias.
In 1947, she repatriated with her parents to Armenia and graduated with
honors nine years later from the Historico-Linguistic Department of
the Yerevan Khachatour Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University.
On her own initiative, she started to jot down the various folklore
relics communicated, in different dialects, by the Armenians forcibly
exiled from Western Armenia, Cilicia and Anatolia to the various
countries of the world.
In 1958, Dr. Svazlian began work at the Manouk Abeghian Institute
of Literature of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. Other areas of
employment were National Academy of Sciences and Museum Institute of
the Armenian Genocide of the National Academy of Sciences.
She has participated in a number of international conferences,
discoursing upon folklore, ethnography, Armenian Genocide and the
Armenian Question.
She has authored 23 books in different languages, including her
latest "The Armenian Genocide and The People’s Historical Memory,
along with more than 500 academic and public papers published in
Armenia and abroad.
Dr. Svazlian has written down and taped, word by word, fragment
by fragment, studied and published during a period of 50 years
the various relics of the oral tradition. She has documented the
testimonies and historical songs (in Armenian and Turkish) of genocide
survivors deported from more than 100 localities of Historic Armenia,
Cilicia and Anatolia.
Her efforts saved from a total loss the collective historical memory
of the Armenian nation with a view to presenting it to the world
in different languages (Armenian, Russian, English, Turkish, French
and German).
She is the mother of published author Knarig Svazlian, 41, who has
just released her own book titled, "The History of the Armenian
Community in America."