Araxi Apelian-Kolanian Collection – Thessaloniki

Author: Ani Apikian, 03/01/2025 (Last modified: 03/01/2025) - Translator: Simon Beugekian. This page was prepared collaboratively with the “Armenika” periodical of Athens.

These materials were provided to us by Araxi Apelian-Kolanian. Araxi’s father, Hagop Apelian (1900-1978), hailed from Balıkesir. He was the son of Garabed Apelian and Ebrouhi Apelian (born Arabian in 1872).

In Balıkesir, Garabed Apelian was a jeweler and a jewelry merchant. He owned two or three jewelry shops in the city. Garabed and Ebrouhi had three sons and one daughter – Yeprem, Hagop (Araxi’s father), Sarkis, and Adrine. Like many Armenians living in Balıkesir, Garabed and Ebrouhi were Turkish speakers. Their four children, however, attended Armenian schools, and consequently, alongside Turkish, spoke Armenian. Araxi remembers that in Thessaloniki, Ebrouhi would always try to speak Armenian to her grandchildren; while her son Hagop (Araxi’s father) would occasionally recite proverbs in Turkish, prefacing them with “Turks are terrible, but they have great proverbs.”

In 1920, the Greek army entered Balıkesir, and the city was placed under Greek rule. But as the Greco-Turkish War continued, Greek forces began retreating gradually. On November 6, 1922, Turkish forces recaptured Balıkesir. Until the outbreak of the First World War, the population of Balıkesir was between 15,000 and 20,000, including 1,000-2,000 Greeks and about 3,500 Armenians. The city’s Armenian community had a representative on the city council.

Garabed Apelian was one of the prominent Armenians of the city and played an important role in community life. When the Armenian Genocide began in 1915, Garabed was able to send his family to Konya. But back in Balıkesir, the authorities arrested him and two of his relatives. All three were hanged. His family, who had found safety in Konya, survived the Genocide. Hagop attended the local American school. In 1922, when the exodus of Armenians and Greeks from the region of Izmir began, Ebrouhi and her four children boarded a ship and reached the city of Thessaloniki (northern Greece).

Many Armenian refugees from Asia Minor fled to Thessaloniki during these years, and the size of the city’s Armenian community grew. By the early 1920s, there were already about 10,000 Armenians in Thessaloniki. The most serious problem that these refugees faced was the lack of housing. Community organizations mobilized to help them. An Armenian relief committee was created to assist the refugees. Many Armenian refugees were initially accommodated in the Holy Mother-of-God Armenian church, and later in tents. Others settled down in the city center or in the refugee camps on the outskirts of the city.

In Thessaloniki, Araxi’s father, Hagop, and her uncle, Yeprem, were jewelers. Hagop’s brother, Sarkis, had a tragic fate. He contracted tuberculosis and died at a young age. Hagop’s sister, Adrine, met Nershabouh Geosdenian in Thessaloniki and married him. Nershabouh and his sisters had also survived the Genocide and had witnessed the killing of their relatives. Adrine and Nershabouh had four children – Torkom, Takouhi, Ebrouhi, and Hagop.

Yeprem Apelian married Mary (maiden surname unknown). In Thessaloniki, Yeprem was a supporter of the communist party, and had serious ideological disagreements with his brother Hagop. After the Second World War, in 1946-1947, a large number of Armenians from Thessaloniki emigrated to Soviet Armenia. The Geosdenian family also decided to repatriate. When Yeprem and his wife, Mary, left with the first group to Soviet Armenia, they were joined by the Geosdenians’ oldest son, Torkom. Soon thereafter, Yeprem wrote to Nershabouh, indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction with conditions in Armenia. He advised the rest of the family not to rush to repatriate.

In Soviet Armenia, conditions for Yeprem and Mary were very difficult. Initially, they were accommodated in the home of a local family. But Mary sank into a depression, her health deteriorated, and eight months after arriving in Armenia, she died. Some time later, Yeprem remarried, to a Greek-Armenian woman named Yeran. Yeprem worked as a supervisor in the jewelry factory in Yerevan.

Araxi Apelian-Kolanian remembers that in 1980, when she visited Armenia for the first time, she met with Yeprem, who was ill. He told Araxi, “Go and tell Hagop that he was right.”

Mihran and Araxi married in Thessaloniki and had four children – Kevork (1913-1995), Garbis-Garabed (1915-1982), Armenouhi (1920-1984), and Arakel (1930-2021). In Thessaloniki, Mihran, like his father, was engaged in the trade and export of coffee.

Mihran and Araxi were actively engaged in Armenian community life in Thessaloniki. Mihran Kevorkian was among the founders of the city’s Holy Mother-of-God Church. Before the construction of this church, the community only had a chapel, built in 1884, housed in the upper story of a house, and consisting of three rooms. Over the years, the chapel was often moved, but it was always housed in rented residences.

The land for the Holy Mother-of-God Church was purchased in 1884. After long delays, the Ottoman authorities issued the requisite permission to build the church. Construction work began in 1902. A large number of Thessaloniki Armenians participated enthusiastically in this project, including Mihran Kevorkian. Construction ended in 1903, and the solemn consecration ceremony of the church took place on November 6, 1903.

The church was designed by architect Vitaliano Poselli (1838-1918), who was a renowned local architect and had designed many important public buildings (the Yeni Mosque, the Diikitirio, the city’s first university building, and the Banque de Salonique building). Presumably, this great architect’s many Armenian friends had kindled in him an interest in designing Armenian churches. In 1907, a two-story building was built next to the church, housing the community meeting hall and the secretariat. Years later, the Armenian Dzaghgots Saturday School would be housed in this building.

In 1937, Mihran Kevorkian died of an illness at a relatively young age. Her husband’s death left Araxi deeply shaken, and she died just a year later (in 1938). Mihran and Araxi’s daughter, Armenouhi, who was just 17 years old at the time, became her three brothers’ caretaker. Their parents’ early deaths did not stop the four children from receiving a proper education. All four attended the Gullabi Gulbenkian Armenian school in Thessaloniki. The three boys then attended and graduated from university, while Armenouhi graduated from the city’s Anatolia American college. This institution had been founded in Marzvan/Merzifon by American missionaries, to serve Armenian and Greek children. After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the college relocated to Thessaloniki in 1924. In its early years of operation in Greece, the school had a large number of Armenian pupils and provided instruction in Armenian.

After completing her education, Armenouhi Kevorkian became an active member of the Armenian community in Thessaloniki. She was a member of the Armenian Cross of Mercy, the Armenian Relief Society’s (ARS) chapter in Macedonia and Thrace. Armenouhi dedicated herself to this organization and served for many years on its regional executive board. As she was proficient in the Armenian language, she began teaching Armenian in 1960 at the ARS Siranoush Melkonian-Kasbarian Kindergarten-School, which provided two days of instruction per week. She lovingly and devotedly taught at this school for more than 30 years (1960-1990).

This school was founded in 1907. Its first principal was Mannig Depanian, and it initially had an enrollment of 20-30 pupils. It continued operating as a kindergarten and primary school until the outbreak of the Second World War. It was reopened in 1956. In 1990, the school was moved into a building adjacent to the Holy Mother-of-God Church. Today, it operates as a Saturday school.

For many decades, Armenouhi Kevorkian was an enthusiastic member of the local Armenian community’s Atamian singing quartet and theater troupe. She met Hagop Apelian, who was also a member of the Armenian Cross of Mercy, through her work in the organization. The two married in 1950. Their daughter, Araxi, was born in the following year. Hagop was also an active member of the Thessaloniki Armenian community.

Following her mother’s example, Araxi Apelian attended the Malakian-Kasbarian Armenian School while also attending a Greek primary school. She received her secondary education at Anatolia College. She studied English language and literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, then specialized in interpretation, graduating from the École de Traduction et d’Interprétation de l’Université de Genève (Geneva). For many years, Araxi worked as a translator during meetings. She also made significant contributions to Greek-Armenian community life as a member of the Armenian National Committee’s local, European, and regional chapters.

Araxi is married to Kevork Kolanian. They have one son, Aram.