Ter Ghevondian (Der Nahapetian) Family Collection – Yerevan

Author: Armine Ter-Ghevondian, 24/11/25 (Last modified 24/11/25) - Translator: Simon Beugekian

The history of the Ter Ghevondian/Der Ghevontian (Ter Nahapetian/Der Nahabedian) family has been recorded since the late 17th century, thanks to the memoirs written by one of the family’s most prominent figures, Father Ghevond. Beginning in the mid-19th century, the family used the Ter Nahapetian surname. In the 1930s, in honor of their father, Father Ghevond’s sons adopted the Ter Ghevondian surname.

Father Ghevond was the last of a line of priests from the family. According to tradition, he was preceded by 21 generations of priests, beginning, probably, in the late Middle Ages. The family originally lived in the Araks/Aras Valley or a settlement/village in the Ararat Plain whose name has not been recorded. In 1604-1605, Shah Abbas, the Safavid ruler of Persia, forcibly resettled thousands of Armenian families from Chugha/Jugha, Akoulis/Agoulis, Yerevan, and other settlements in an area not far from the Persian capital of Isfahan, thus founding Nor Chugha [New Chugha] and the surrounding villages. Among these forcibly resettled Armenians were the Der Nahapetians’ ancestors. In his memoirs, Father Ghevond mentioned the names of a few of his ancestors: Father Mgrdich, Bishop Haroutyun, and another Father Mgrdich (celibate priest). These men probably lived in the 17th-18th centuries, after the forced resettlement to Chugha but before the family’s move to Marash. In the late 17th century, the deteriorating economic conditions in Nor Chugha generated a wave of emigration, and the family moved in Marash, probably by the first decades of the 18th century.

The Ter Nahapetians’ house in Marash. Nahapet, a member of the last generation of the family to have seen the house, described it from memory in the 1950s to his son Aram, who drew this sketch. In his memoirs, Father Ghevond writes the following on this house: “In 1871, my father built a new house, consisting of two rooms. Above the arches of the two doors was the engraved blessing ‘Yeritsu yem doun, avant ints yedoun, zazniv kertasdan, Der Nahapetian.’ This short verse was composed extemporaneously by Smpad Pyurad Efendi Der Ghazarian, a native of Zeytoun, on a visit to our house. Teacher Hovhannes Der Ghazarian, who is now Father Khachadour Der Ghazarian, had it engraved on stone and placed above the entrances.”

Father Ghevond’s handwritten memoirs were kept for long years by his son Nahapet and his family. In 1948, the memoirs traveled to Armenia with the family, and to this day, are kept at the Yerevan home of Nahapet’s son, Aram Ter-Ghevondian. Aram’s son, Vahan, published the memoirs after editing them and adding a preface, notations, and glossary. The book was published in 2013 as Memoirs of Father Ghevond of Marash by Andares Publishing (Yerevan). The full book can be found at the following link. The French translation of the book was published in 2015, and can be found here. The publication of the memoirs was sponsored by Mary Kordzounian, Father Ghevond’s granddaughter and a resident of Paris. The book covers the history of several generations of the family. Specifically, it covers the period from the second half of the 19th century to the first two decades of the 20th century, including the exodus of Armenians from Cilicia. In the memoirs, Father Ghevond writes about the Hamidian massacres of 1895-1896, the massacres of 1909, the deportations and massacres of 1915, and the events of 1918-1920. The book contains valuable information not only about Marash, but also about many other cities and villages in Cilicia and the neighboring provinces. It provides detailed information on the language, customs, and educational system of Marash.

The congratulatory edict issued by Catholicos Giragos I Achabahian of the Holy See of Cilicia to Senior Priest Father Garabed Ter Nahapetian, 1822.

The congratulatory edict issued by Catholicos Mikayel II Achabahian of the Holy See of Cilicia to Senior Priest Father Garabed Ter Nahapetian, 1840.

Thenceforth, and until the deportations of 1915, the Ter Nahapetians served as senior priests in six Armenian Apostolic churches in Marash, and often as vicars/interim prelates of the Marash Diocese. We know of at least four generations of Ter Nahapetians who served as vicars/interim prelates: Father Nahapet (senior) (circa 1750-1821); his son Father Garabed (circa 1780-1850); Father Garabed’s son Father Nahapet (junior) (1820-1887); and Father Nahapet’s son Father Ghevond (1853-1941).

As leaders of the church, these men worked closely with and enjoyed the support of the influential families of Marash, or as they were commonly known, the “princes” – the Chorbadjians, Topalians, and Mouradians. The heads of these families, who inherited their status from their parents and forebears, served as patrons and benefactors of Marash’s Armenian community, particularly of its ecclesiastical dioceses. In fact, at least during the 19th century, a unique form of local government existed in the city of Marash, responsible for governing the local Armenian community, acting as an intermediary between Armenians and the Turkish authorities at times of peace, and bearing the brunt of the authorities’ punitive measures at times of strife.

Pages from Nahapet Ter-Ghevondian’s kindergarten handicrafts book, Marash, 1894.

The parochial Noubarian School kindergarten of Cairo. Aram Ter-Ghevondian is the last pupil from the right. Photographer: B. Kalfayan.

The first ancestor of the Ter Ghevondian family about whom we have reliable information is Father Nahapet (senior), who was born in the 18th century and lived until the mid-19th century.

Father Nahapet’s son, Father Garabed, earned commendations in the form of edicts from Catholici Giragos I and Mikayel II Achabahian of the Holy See of Cilicia (1822, 1833, and 1840; the edicts are provided on this page).

Father Garabed’s son was Father Nahapet, (junior; lay forename: Hovhannes). He was born in 1820 and died in 1887, in Marash. He married Trvanda, the daughter of Prince Kevork Topalian, in 1840. He served as the priest of the Holy Forty Martyrs Church in Marash. He was ordained in 1847. We know that during his term as a priest, Father Nahapet, on behalf of the Armenians of Marash, delivered a petition to the Sultan, in response to which the collection of taxes from the Armenians of the city was separated from the collection of taxes from Turks, thus rescuing the Armenians from the arbitrary rule of the local Turkish authorities.

Additional details about Father Nahapet are found in the memoirs of his son, Father Ghevond, who mentions him in relation to Zeytoun, for which Marash played the role of a regional center. This account, too, shows how Father Nahapet played the role of a representative of the local Armenian population and personally dealt with the Ottoman authorities to resolve issues. In this particular case, the governor of Marash had given Father Nahapet a quantity of new currency that was minted by the Ottoman government, asking him to take it to Zeytoun and convince the city’s residents to use it and put it into circulation. The incident probably occurred in 1862-1863. The people of Zeytoun had absolutely refused to use the new currency, and Father Nahapedt had made no special attempt to convince them otherwise. As the memoirs state: “My father brought the money right back and returned it to the governor, without a penny missing.”

Left to right, bottom row: Hovhannes (Father Ghevond’s oldest son), Trvanda (Father Ghevond’s mother, seated), Kevork (Father Ghevond’s second son), Father Nahapet (Father Ghevond’s father, seated), and Dikran (Father Ghevond’s sister’s son). In the background, standing, are Dirouhi (Father Ghevond’s wife) and Garabed (Father Ghevond’s cousin). Photographed in 1882, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Front row, left to right: Dirouhi, Father Ghevond’s wife (nee Topalian, seated); Father Ghevond’s son, Kourken (who contracted tuberculosis and died while studying pharmacy); Father Ghevond; and his mother, Trvanda (nee Topalian). Back row, left to right: Arousyag, Father Ghevond’s daughter; Kevork, Father Ghevond’s son; and Nahapet, Father Ghevond’s youngest son. Marash, 1894.

A wooden case that was used by the family as a travel suitcase. The case is marked with the family’s file (or registration) number, 629.

Father Nahapet’s son, Father Ghevond Ter Nahapetian (lay forename Yerchanig), was born in Marash on September 30, 1853, and died in Cairo on May 25, 1941. He served as the priest of the Holy Forty Martyrs Church of Marash. He was a member of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (beginning in 1888), and the chairman of the party’s Marash chapter (his revolutionary nom de guerre was Marouke Djknavor). He organized the transfer of weapons, ammunition, and money to the rebels of Zeytoun (1895). We also know that during the meeting of Mout Tsor (Karanluk Dere), Father Ghevond promised that “as soon as the uprising is declared in Zeytoun, I will send a thousand fighters from Marash dressed in the British uniform.” [1]

This account is confirmed by the History Book of Zeytoun, which mentions that Nazaret Chavoush, addressing his comrades, said: “Chairman of the Marash chapter, Father Ghevond T. Nahapetian, has promised that 500 to 800 armed warriors from Marash will come to Zeytoun and join us.” [2] However, this daring plan was thwarted by the Ottoman authorities. Soon, Father Ghevond was arrested, and after enduring the horrors of torture in a Turkish prison for a year, he was released in 1897, thanks to the general amnesty that was declared, and thus saved from certain death.

Aram Ter-Ghevondian’s report card from the parochial Noubarian School kindergarten for the year 1934-1935.

Aram Ter-Ghevondian’s report card from the parochial Noubarian School for the year 1935-1936.

Aram Ter-Ghevondian’s report card from the parochial Noubarian School for the year 1936-1937 (first grade). Aside from academic skills, the report also assessed Aram’s moral character, including his cleanliness and neatness, discipline, punctuality, attentiveness and diligence, manners, tolerance of others, and sense of dignity.

Haygouhi Ter-Ghevondian’s graduation diploma from the coeducational Noubarian Elementary School. The diploma is printed in Armenian, Arabic, and English. Heliopolis, 20 June 1937.

Father Ghevond had absolutely no intention of leaving his native Marash, or as he called it himself, his “homeland.” But eventually, the persecution he experienced at the hand of the Ottoman authorities forced him to flee. After 14 years of travels across Syria, Egypt, and Cyprus, he eventually returned to Marash in 1910. “I’m sick of being a vagabond,” he declared, and settled down again in Marash with his family, serving as the priest of his own native church. Unfortunately, he would only live on the soil of Cilicia for another five years.

The deportations began on May 1, 1915. Once again, and for one last time, Father Nahapet and his family left their family home in Marash, their summer house and orchards in Aghyar, the Holy Forty Martyrs Church, and the graves and relics of their ancestors, taking the road to exile. After living in Aleppo for five years, in 1920, they finally settled down in Egypt.

In 1873, Father Ghevond had married Dirouhi/Tiruhi, the daughter of Prince Hampartsoum Topalian. The couple had ten children, of whom five died in infancy or in their teens of various diseases. Only five reached maturity, married, and had children. These children’s descendants continue carrying the Ter Nahapetian (Ter-Ghevondian) name. These children were:

Hovhannes (Marash, 1876-Aleppo, 1940). A doctor. He married Aghavni Topalian.
Kevork (Marash, 1878-Cairo, 1940). A tobacco merchant. He married Gyulenia Gyurounlimian, a native of Gesaria, in 1910.
Vartouhi (Marash, 1901-Paris, 1982). In 1921, she married Dikran Leylekian.
Arousyag (Marash, 1882-Aleppo, 1974). She married Fares Sabbaghian.

The motor ship Pobeda, which departed Egypt on August 22, 1948, for Batumi. It was aboard this ship that Nahapet, Lousaper, Hayg, Haygouhi, and Aram Ter-Ghevondian repatriated to Armenia.

A ticket for the passenger ship Pobeda, which brought a branch of the family to Yerevan (via Batumi). The ticket bears the family’s file (or registration) number, 692.

Filigree silver items crafted by Nahapet Ter Ghevondian, 1950s-1960s.

Father Ghevond’s fifth surviving child, Nahapet (Marash, 1887-Yerevan, 1963), was a jeweler, silversmith, (also a carpenter), and talented painter. He was baptized at the Holy Forty Martyrs Church of Marash by his own grandfather, Father Nahapet. After leaving Marash, the family settled down in Aleppo, where Nahapet worked as a jeweler. In 1910, the entire family returned to Marash, but by early 1915, Nahapet had returned to Aleppo, where on May 19, 1919, he married Lousaper, daughter of Hovhannes and Maryam Chorbadjian and a descendant of one of the princely houses of Marash. The following year, Nahapet and Lousaper moved to Cairo. In 1948, the couple and their three children repatriated to Armenia. Nahapet was one of the founders of the Yerevan jewelry factory.

As we have seen, over a period of 350 years, the Der Ghevondians completed a huge circle of migration. They had been forcibly removed from the Ararat Plain in 1604-1605 and resettled in New Chugha. About 100 years later (1680-1730), they moved to Marash. Another 200 years later, in 1920, they moved to Egypt via Syria. And finally, in 1948, as part of the great wave of repatriation, one branch of the family (Nahapet; his wife, Lousaper; and their children, Hayg, Haygouhi, and Aram), arriving in the last repatriation caravan to leave Egypt, settled down in Yerevan, in the same Ararat Plain from which their ancestors had been forcibly expelled three-and-a-half centuries earlier.

Father Ghevond with his grandchildren Hayg and Haygouhi Ter-Ghevondian. Cairo, 1927.

A reproduction of a page from a 13th century manuscript from Artsakh, copied by Father Ghevond’s granddaughter, Armine Ter-Ghevondian. Armine added the Lord’s Prayer to the image, written in the Marash dialect. The handwritten manuscript was commissioned by a princely family from Artsakh. It was written and illuminated by Toros the scribe at the commission of Prince Vakhtank-Dankig and his wife Khorishah, the parents of Hasan Jalal-Dola, between 1212 and 1214. The manuscript is the family Gospel of the Hasan-Jalalyan dynasty and is also known as the Gospel of Vakhtank-Dankig.

The only branch of the Ter Nahapetian family to repatriate to Armenia. Seated, left to right: Lousaper (nee Chorbadjian) and Nahapet Ter-Ghevondian. Standing, left to right: Aram, Haygouhi, and Hayg. Cairo, 1944.

A school photograph, Aleppo, 28 June 1899. First in the third row is Kourken Ter-Ghevondian. First in the fourth row is Nahapet Ter-Ghevondian. Photographer: H. Vosgerchian.

An announcement of the 50th anniversary celebration of the ordination of Father Ghevond, published by the Boston chapter of the Marash compatriotic union.

Father Ghevond wearing his pectoral cross, Cairo, 1931. Photographer: Haroutyun Kavoukian/Cavoukian. Haroutyun Kavoukian and his son Onnig were internationally renowned photographers and were known by the name of “Cavouk.”

An article in the January-February 1931 issue of the Kermanig monthly periodical, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Father Ghevond.

Nahapet and Lousaper had three children: Hayg (Cairo, 1920-Los Angeles, 2002), Haygouhi (Cairo, 1923-Yerevan, 1971); and Aram (Cairo, 1928-Yerevan, 1988).

Hayg Der-Ghevondian graduated from the parochial Noubarian School of the Heliopolis neighborhood of Cairo, and then from the Sacré-Coeur French college. After receiving five Egyptian gold pounds as a gift from his grandfather, Father Ghevond, he obtained a jeweler’s table and tools and began working with his father. He became a silversmith, jeweler, and an expert on precious stones, while also apprenticing with Egyptian-Armenian painter Ashod Zorian. In Armenia, he also apprenticed with Hagop Gochoyan/Kojoyan, who later greatly supported him. He was a researcher at the Arts Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia; as well as a member of the Union of Painters of Armenia and later the Soviet Union (he received his membership booklet personally from Mardiros Sarian). In 1966, he emigrated to the United States with his family.

A gold pectoral cross, decorated with precious stones, which belonged to Father Ghevond. In 1930-1931, the 50-year anniversary of Father Ghevond’s ordination as a priest was celebrated across the world. To mark the occasion, Catholicos Sahag II Khabayan of the Holy See of Cilicia issued a special congratulatory edict, granting Father Ghevond the privilege of wearing a pectoral cross in recognition of his distinguished service. Thanks to his great popularity, Father Ghevond was sometimes called “Father of Cilicia.”

Hayg was the author of many articles on Armenian silversmithing, the history of art, the crowns of Armenians kings, and the jewelry of Armenian princely clans (many were published in the periodical Hantes Amsorya of Vienna). He was married to Lousig Levonian, and the couple had one son, Vartan Der-Ghevondian (Yerevan, 1960-Los Angeles, 2023), who worked as a senior paralegal at Los Angeles City Hall.

Haygouhi Der-Ghevondian was an English teacher. She graduated from the Noubarian Parochial School of the Heliopolis neighborhood of Cairo, then the Araratian College . She married Pyuzant Levonian, and the couple had two children, Levon and Norayr. She died at a young age, in 1971. Soon after her death, her husband and children moved to the United States.

Aram Der-Ghevondian was an expert in Armenian and Oriental studies, a historian, a historiographer, a Doctor of History, and a professor. After moving to Armenia, he studied at the Oriental Studies Faculty of Yerevan State University and was a student of Hratchia Adjarian. He was then accepted as a post-graduate student at the Oriental Studies Faculty of the University of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg). He defended his academic dissertation to a committee headed by Hovsep Orbeli, the renowned philologist. Beginning in 1981, he was the director of the Oriental Historiography Division of the Oriental Studies Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. The many scientific articles he published focused on the connections between Armenian and Arab cultures. His first published book was titled “Arab Emirates in Pakradouni/Bagratuni [Bagratid] Armenia” (1965), which was later published in English (translated by Nina Garsoyan). His doctoral dissertation was titled “Armenia and the Arab Caliphate,” and it was published in Russian in 1977. He also published a newly discovered edition of an Arabic translation of Agathangelos. He translated, from the Arabic, passages about Armenia from 13th-century Arab chronicler Ibn al-Asir’s works. He also translated, into Modern Armenian, and abridged and annotated Agathangelos’ History of Armenia and Ghevond’s History. He participated in the project that resulted in a new Eastern Armenian translation of the Holy Bible (1994).

He was married to archaeologist Seta Devejian. The couple had one son, Vahan, and one daughter, Armine. For more on Vahan and Armine, see Houshamadyan’s article Khachadourian Family Collection – Yerevan.

Pages from the album Haygagan Zarter [Armenian Decorations] by Hayg Ter-Ghevondian (Armenian Decorations, Album of Jewelry Sketches, 35 pages, 1964, HayBedHrad, Yerevan).

Witnesses to the History of the Ter Ghevondian Family

Information pertaining to the oldest of the family’s ancestors (the first few generations) was obtained from Father Ghevond’s handwritten memoirs, which his great-grandson, Vahan Der-Ghevondian, studied from a historiographical perspective and published alongside annotations and a preface. Vahan also completed a family tree that had first been created by his father, Aram.

Father Ghevond’s granddaughter, Armine Ter-Ghevondian, using the materials prepared by her brother, Vahan, as well as the detailed information and reliable facts on each member of the family that appear in a notebook that belonged to Hayg Ter-Ghevondian, wrote this abridged history of the Ter-Ghevondian (Ter-Nahapetian) family. Armine provided this family history to Houshamadyan alongside relevant documents, photographs, hand-crafted items, and edicts from the Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia.