History and biography researcher (b.
23 February 1923 – d. 23 September 1966, İstanbul). His family was from Kayseri. He attended Üsküdar Nersesyan-Yermonyan
Armenian Primary
School and he left school while he was in the 10th
term at Saint-Joseph
Private French
High School. He started
to publish his work in Nor Lur (Yeni
Haber, News in Armenian) newspaper. He worked on his painting during the
years 1944-50 then, giving more importance to his writing, he wrote articles in
Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s İstanbul Ansiklopedisi
(Encyclopedia of İstanbul) about
the Armenians of İstanbul. He was among the founders of the Association for the
Encouragement of Cultural Research in 1953.
He published his articles in reviews
such as Hayat Tarih, Tarih ve Toplum in 1956. In the year 1967, he
started to work at the Armenian Patriarchate and was the editor of the reviews
and almanacs of Şoğagat (Falling Beam) published by the Patriarchate.
After 1982 he became the honorary consultant of culture of that institution. In
addition to his Turkish poems, he also wrote articles, essays, explanatory
notes and appendixes to many Armenian and Turkish encyclopedias. He also
produced up to 2000 epitaph texts, which he had collected from Üsküdar,
Edirnekapı and Balıklı Armenian cemeteries, and unpublished works including
nearly 3500 biographies of famous Armenians.
WORKS:
Patrik
Nagop Halyan 1706-1764 (Patriarch Nagop
Halyan 1706-1764, 1981-83), Patrik
Hovannes Golod 1678-1741 (Patriarch Ioannes Golod 1678-1741, 1984-85), İstanbul Yazıları (Writing on İstanbul,
edited by Osman Köker, 2002), Ermeni
Harfli Türkçe Metinler (Turkish Texts in Armenian Letters, 2002), Zamanlar, Mekânlar, İnsanlar (Times, Places, People, 2003).
