Tom Vartabedian
What’s in your name? Plenty!
I have a friend whose Armenian name is Hampartzoum. Nobody calls him that, not even his own family and the mother who gave him that name.
They call him Harry.
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I am deeply dismayed that anyone with the beautiful name of Hamazasp would be addressed by Bud. In my father’s diaries of the Armenian Genocide, Hamazasp Shahinian of Haksdoun of Kghi was a staunch fedayi who volunteered his own life again and again in order to save the lives of countless villagers. He was my father, Misak Seferian’s very close friend all through the resistance battles of 1915 – 1922. They were two young boys who grew up on the battlefields in defense of their homeland. Remarkably, they both survived. Every Hamazasp can be proud of his name. Hamazasp Shahinian of Haksdoun of Kghi gives him reason to know that it is a name worthy of great honor. It signifies courage and sacrifice and loyalty and faithfulness. Watch for my father’s writing to be published soon. Resistance: a diary of the Armenian Genocide 1915 -1922.
Tom: My dear friend, who was given the same beautiful name as your sister-in-law, Ishquouhi, was called Esther. The name Ishquouhi has a melodious syllabic rhythm to it that “Esther” simply cannot match. Ishquouhi was always very proud of her name and regretted that it was seldom used. Her family also came from Haksdoun of Kghi, and she yearned to go there, but could not find it on any map. The turks had changed her village name. However, my father wrote about his friend Hamazasp’s village in his diaries and said that the church in the area was called St. Garabed. Armen Aroyan was able to find Haksdoun and take her there. Ishquouhi knew about Hamazasp, and when she was there, she called out his name across the fields of his home and remembered him there in her prayers. She was the very last descendant to be able to go to Haksdoun of Kghi. The turks flooded the village very shortly afterwards. Haksdoun no longer exists by any name. And Ishquouhi died just a few months later. When Armen wrote to me after her death, we both rejoiced that she had made the trip back home, back to Haksdoun of Kghi, before time itself was no more.
“My Name is Aram” by William Saroyan
Thought I would throw that in for fun.
Nice article.
Do you have a pen name?
How many people would recognize my first name of “Ezan?” Not many, I am sure. My father, who was an ardent Dashnak and a member of the Armenian Legion during WWI, gave me that name.
The name comes from an Armenian revolutionary song sung by Armenak Shah Mouradian (or Shamouradyan) and recorded in the 1920’s. The song is ‘Bam Porodan”. There is a refrain towards the middle of the song that goes “Ezan-e-veraj, aratch, aratch”. Translated, it is “to arms, revenge, forward, forward”. If you go on YouTube and type in his name, you can hear the song. In grade school, I had many a fight with kids that would tried to taunt me by saying, “Ezian the Armenian”. They were Italian kids from an all Italian neighborhood where we lived. It was funny because their names were Francesco, Luigi, etc. I have always been proud of my name. I married an Armenian girl and have three sons with Armenian names of Ara, Shahe’ and Raffi.
Ezan Bagdasarian