Vicky Khachadourian Collection - Athens

Translator: Hrant Gadarigian

These artifacts of memory were collected during the Houshamadyan workshop held in Athens on November 30, 2019. This page was produced in collaboration with the Athens periodical Armenika and the Hamazkayin Union.

The family items displayed on this page are kept by Vicky Khachadourian.

Vicky Khachadourian’s maternal grandfather was Sarkis Chevikian, and her grandmother was Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). Sarkis Chevikian was from the town of Rodosto (Tekirdagh). We also know that Mary was the name Sarkis's mother.

Sarkis's wife, Hayganoush, was born in Silivri, a town just east of Rodosto, and was the sister of well-known writer Roupen Sevag (1885-1915). Hayganoush's mother was Armaveni; her father was Hovhannes, who sold iron. Hayganoush also had another brother, Hayg, who was studying law when he came down with tuberculosis and died at a young age. The other sisters and brothers were Kerovpeh, Hedvig, Efdig and Krapos.

Efdig was Hayganoush’s sister who was married to Onnig Bey Hagopovich. He was an Armenian from Silivri who owned large tracts of cultivated lands and farms around Silivri. He was a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire who, as a prominent figure, had forges close ties with the local authorities. It is said that due to the mediations and bribes of Onnig Bey that the Chilingirian and Hagopovich families were not subject to the 1915 deportations and that members of these families were able to remain in Silivri until the retreat of the Greek armies in 1922.

Wedding portrait of Sarkis Chevikian and Hayganoush Chilingirian in Kefalonia, 1924.

The Greek Army captured Rodosto after the end of WWI. After 1922, like all Armenians in Rodosto, the survivors of the Chevikian family also left their hometown, before the arrival of the Turkish authorities, and found refuge in Greece. They settled on the island of Kefalonia.

At the time, Hayganoush, along with other members of her family, had also left Silivri and was living in Istanbul. Her brother, Roupen Sevag, was one of the victims of the 1915 Genocide. In 1924, Hayganoush traveled to Greece from Istanbul as a bride and on November 23 of the same year she married Sarkis Chevikian in Kefalonia. A sizeable number of the items on this page are a part of Hayganoush's dowry.

Photographs of Sarkis Chevikian taken in Rodosto. Photographer-Mihran Dadikozian.

The couple’s first child, Manno (Vicky’s mother), was born in Kefalonia. Sarkis couldn’t make a go of it on the island, so he and his family moved to Kavala (northeastern Greece), where their second daughter, Armineh, was born.

Manno married Aved Khachadourian in Athens, where they continued to live.

Aved was from Akshehir. The family’s actual last name was Djonbalakian, but it became Khachadourian during the exile years. As an immigrant, he initially lived on Corfu/Kerkyra Island, and then Athens.

Hayganoush Chilingirian (later Chevikian) surrounded by the children of her brother, Roupen Sevag. This photo was taken in Istanbul, when Hayganoush was not yet married. Shamiram is to the left of Hayganoush. The name of the child to the immediate right of Hayganoush isn’t known. Further to her right is Levon. Shamiram and Levon were very close to Hayganoush. It is said that the boys were saddened to hear that their dear aunt would be leaving them and going to Greece as a bride. Later, Roupen Sevag’s widow and sons would leave Istanbul and settle in Lausanne, and then in France.

Helene Apell-Chilingirian, wife of Roupen Sevag. The couple first met in Lausanne, where Roupen Sevag was studying medicine.

Standing, in the center of the photo is Helene/Jannie Apell (later Chilingirian), with her parents and little sister.

Roupen Sevag (Tchilingirian) and Helene/Jannie Apell.

Roupen Sevag’s (Chilingirian) medical bag that was inherited by his sister, Hayganoush. The engraving on the bag reads – “Dr R.T”, which corresponds to the first letters of his name, Roupen Tchilingirian/Chilingirian.

Bundle (bohça): It is assumed that Hayganoush’s entire dowry was placed in this bundle when she first arrived in Greece from Istanbul.

Velvet cloth, adorned with flowers, used to make slippers. This was part of the dowry Hayganoush brought from Istanbul. It was to be used to make slippers for her husband, Sarkis. The slippers were never made.

A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian)

An embroidery made by Hayganoush. The Latin letter H, for Hayganoush, appears on the embroidery.

A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian)

Onnig Hagopovich (center) with his children Krikor (left) and Sira-Srpouhie (right). Onnig was the husband of Hayganoush’s sister Efdig. The other children of Onnig and Efdig were Sirvart, Adrineh, Kristin Saleri (a prominent painter who lived in Istanbul). The photo probably dates to the 1920s and was taken in Florya, now part of the Bakırköy neighborhood of Istanbul. The Hagopovich family had farms and a mansion there.

Hayganoush and her daughter Manno-1927։ On the left is a flower-adorned pillowcase that was a part of her dowry.

A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). 62 centimeters in length.

1. A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). 75 centimeters in length.
2. A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). 64 centimeters in length.
3. A handiwork belonging to the dowry of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). 74 centimeters in length.

A metal box, probably for tobacco, that belonged to Hovhannes Chilingirian, father of Hayganoush Chevikian (née Chilingirian). Hayganoush would later store her safety pins in the box.