Overview

In this memoir, author Alice Nazarian tells the story of her parents and family in the shadow of the Armenian/Assyrian Genocide. Her father, Ashur Yousuf, a prominent Assyrian intellectual and professor at Euphrates College in Kharpert, Turkey, became a victim of the Genocide in 1915. Her mother, Arshaluys Yousuf, heroically struggled on after her husband's death, raising their six children while helping educate countless young children in orphanages and schools in the Middle East. The memoir comprises a narrative of the turbulent life of Arshaluys and a section devoted to writings by and about Ashur Yousuf. This English translation, while faithful to the original Armenian, contains some new material and an updated genealogy of the descendants of Ashur and Arshaluys Yousuf.

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9789198410198

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Reviews

This publication is more than just a family memoir. It deals with an extraordinary mixed Armenian and Assyrian family with roots in Harput (now re-named Elazig) in Turkey from the late nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century. Basically, it tells the story about a family's survival in times of massacres, war, genocide and uncertain life in post-World War I exile in Lebanon, Syria and Soviet Armenia. - David Gaunt, S dert rn University, Stockholm, Sweden The horrors that Seyfo (genocide) brought are described in a new book about the Assyrian national hero Ashur Yousuf and his widow Arshaluys. It is a poignant story of a family's tragic destiny and a testimony of the strong will and sacrifice that Arshaluys Yousuf demonstrated during her 80 years. At the same time, it depicts the attempts to eradicate the area's two indigenous peoples, Assyrians and Armenians. - Augin Kurt Haninke (AINA) Ashur Yousuf (1858-1915) is a legend among Assyrian nationalists. He was one of the first Assyrian intellectuals to embrace the idea of a unified Assyrian people that would transcend denominational divisions. As a victim of the Ottoman genocide, he is honored as a martyr. Yousuf was a teacher at Euphrates College in Kharpert and married to an Armenian woman, Arshaluys. In 1965, their daughter Alice Nazarian published a book in Armenian about her parents which has been translated into English and is now published together with some other material by an Assyrian publisher. It is an interesting story well worth reading. - Svante Lundgren, Lund University, Lund, Sweden (The Armenian Weekly)

Author Information

Author Alice Nazarian was the fifth child of Ashur and Arshaluys Yousuf. In addition to this memoir, she wrote numerous articles, poems, and lectures. She was well-known in Aleppo, Syria, as an educator and director of plays. Having lived most of her life in Aleppo, she immigrated to the United States in 1967. She died in Los Angeles in 1976. Ishkhan Jinbashian is a literary translator. His works include translations of novels, poetry, and memoirs by Hagop Oshagan, Shahan Shahnur, Zareh Vorbuni, Yeghishe Charents, Mikayel Shamtanchian, Armen Anush, and Aram Sahakian. Jinbashian lives in Los Angeles. Editor Arda Darakjian Clark is the granddaughter of author Alice Nazarian. She has worked as a technical writer and editor and has written two educational books for young students.

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