Bedros Aslanian

Bedros Aslanian
Birthplace	Addis Ababa
Lived in	Addis Ababa, Yerevan, Sharjah, Vienna
Death place	Yerevan
Resting place	Tokhmakh cemetery
Ethnicities	Armenian
Dialects	Western Armenian
Ancestral villages	Sivas

A short biography of Bedros by his son Sebouh Aslanian, as it appeared on Facebook in October 2015:

My father Bedros passed away two days ago here in Yerevan (Armenia) following a protracted struggle with illness. He was born in 1934 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. His parents, Tavit and Dilbar, hailed from Sepastia or Sivas in Asia Minor and had taken refuge, after the Abdul Hamidian massacres in the 1890s, first in Alexandiria (Egypt) followed by Addis Ababa (1917) in the capital of Abyssinia or Ethiopia as it is known now. In the early 1950s, my father began working for George Djerrahian, my formidable maternal grandfather who had opened Ethiopia's first privately owned printing press (Artistic printers) in 1929. After a brief period of serving as an apprentice in my grandfather's printing shop, my father taught himself the craft of printing, became a journeyman printer, and worked for a while for another Armenian printer (Surmeyan, if memory serves). In the late 1950s and probably in 1958, he opened his own printing shop, "Central Printing Press," where he was later joined by his youngest brother, my dear uncle Torkom. In 1967, my father established a rather big business enterprise, "Ethiopian Paper Converting," which was one of the largest printing ventures in the country. After the Revolution of 1974, he moved us briefly to Beirut where we bought an apartment in the same building where my maternal grandmother Astghig (Astrid) had once lived. A few months later upon the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war, our family was forced to return to Ethiopia then in the throes of post-revolutionary turmoil and violence. In 1975 my father, like many others of his generation, lost everything he had built when his businesses were nationalized. He then moved briefly to New York then, in short order, to Sharjah (UAE) in 1976 where he helped build and then ran for a number of years a printing press for NCR. In Sharjah, my father became an active member in the local Armenian community of the northern Emirates and served as the "adenabed" (chairman or president) of the community from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. He was one of the pillars of the community and helped build, as a benefactor, the UAE's first Armenian church in Sharjah, The Saint Gregory the Illuminator church in 1997/1998. Beginning in the mid-1990s, he divided his time between Dubai, Vienna, and Yerevan, but increasingly limited his stays away from Dubai to residing in his beloved home in Yerevan where he passed on in the presence of his immediate family and loved ones after a lengthy and full life. With my father's and our family's life-history in mind, I often tell my students at UCLA that Armenians are magnets for civil wars and revolutions, but they are, above all, resilient as survivors. My father was a printer, benefactor, and community leader almost all his life. Even though I am an agnostic (at best), I know he is in a better place now. May his soul rest in peace and may the earth rest gently upon him, and may my mother, sister, and I find consolation in remembering all the good things he accomplished in his long and fruitful life. The photo below must be from the 1940s in Ethiopia and features my father on the far right flanked by his older brother, my uncle Kegham, and youngest brother, uncle Torkom. Աստուած բոլորին հոգին լուսաւորէ եւ լոյսերու մէջ պարկեցնէ իրենց… The wake will be held at Surb Hovannes Church on Proshiants on Sunday 11 October at 6:00 PM followed by the funeral at Tokhmakh cemetery on Monday 12 October at 1:30PM

Bedros Aslanian awarded Nerses Shnorhali Medal

Azad-Hye, United Arab Emirates
Nov 6 2005

AZAD-HYE (Dubai): In April 1997, on his way to the Far East, Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, visited the Armenians of the United Arab Emirates and laid the foundation of the Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Sourp Krikor Lousavorich) Church in Sharjah.

At that time Bedros Aslanian was member of the `Central Committee for the Construction of the Sharjah Church' and served as one of the 16 Godfathers of the newly built Church. He was also a major donor, including funding the construction of the baptistery inside the Church. In November 1998 the Church was ready for the first Holy Mass.

Before getting involved with the construction of the Church, Bedros Aslanian, an Ethiopian-Armenian based in the UAE for more than three decades, has been an active member since the very beginning of the UAE Armenian Community's organized life. In 1980 he was appointed as Chairman of the National Administration (Azkayin Varchoutyoun) of Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, a position that he kept until 1994.

In December 1994 the first elections of the newly formed Prelacy of the Armenians of Kuwait and the Gulf Region took place in Kuwait City, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi simultaneously. Bedros Aslanian was elected to the 5-member body in Sharjah and subsequently was appointed as Vice-Chairman for a period of two years (1994-1996).

During that time Karekin II, Catholicos of Cilicia visited the UAE and had a round of meetings with high ranking personalities in the country, including the late President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed Al Maktoum and the Ruler of Sharjah Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi. The later donated a piece of land in Sharjah's Yarmouk area for the construction of the Armenian Church.

As Vice-Chairman, Bedros Aslanian was instrumental, together with his colleagues (Chairman Varoujan Narguizian, Haigaz Tahmazian, Hrayr Soghomonian and Neshan Basmadjian) in preparing for the above critical meetings that had immense importance for the future of the Armenians in the UAE. As appreciation for his efforts he was bestowed with the coveted `Cilician Knight" (Asbed) medal.

In 19th October 2005, during a special ceremony that took place in Etchmiadzin, Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, awarded Bedros Aslanian with `Saint Nerses the Gracious" (Sourp Nerses Shnorhli) medal, one of the highest medals of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as acknowledgment for his services to the Armenian Church and Nation. On this occasion the Catholicos of All Armenians mentioned that the service of Aslanian to Armenia will never be forgotten.

Combining the gratitude and the medals of both Armenian Catholicosal Sees (All Armenians See in Etchmiadzin, Armenia and the Cilician See in Antelias, Lebanon) Bedros Aslanian has become a symbol of reunion. He continues to serve his Community. [Click Read More].

His son Sebouh Aslanian who is Political Sciences graduate from the United States, contributes his articles (including those devoted to the Armenian subjects) to reputed international publications.

On private business level he and his wife Rita are the founders of "Technochem Services Establishment", a family business since 1978, based in Sharjah. With Aslanian's extensive knowledge in the printing industry, the company's product line grew to printing inks, press chemicals, printing machinery and all other auxiliaries concerned with the printing industry, covering the whole Gulf market, with branch offices in Armenia and Ethiopia.

This article contains text from a source with a copyright. Please help us by extracting the factual information and eliminating the rest in order to keep the site in accordance to fair use standards, or by obtaining permission for reuse on this site..