Aurora Mardiganian
Encyclopedia
Aurora Mardiganian (January 12, 1901, Çemişgezek
, Mamuret-ül Aziz, Ottoman Empire
- February 6, 1994, Los Angeles, California
, USA) was an Armenian American actress and a survivor of the Armenian Genocide
.
, Georgia
), then to St. Petersburg, from where she traveled to Oslo
and finally, with the help of Near East Relief, to New York
. Here she was approached by Harvey Gates, a young screenwriter, who helped her write and publish a narrative that is often described as a memoir titled Ravished Armenia; the Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Lived Through the Great Massacres (1918). The narrative was used for writing a film script that was produced in 1919, Mardiganian playing herself, and first screened in London as "Auction of Souls." The first New York performance of the silent film under the title "Ravished Armenia
" took place on February 16, 1919, in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, with society leaders, Mrs. Oliver Harriman and Mrs. George W. Vanderbilt
, serving as co-hostesses on behalf of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. Mardiganian was referred to in the press as the Joan of Arc
of Armenia
, describing her role as the spokesperson for the victims of the horrors that were then taking place in Turkey and the catalyst for the humanist movement in America. In the 1920s Mardiganian married and lived in Los Angeles until her death on February 6, 1994.
Çemisgezek
Çemişgezek is a small city and its surrounding district in Tunceli Province of Turkey. The city has a population of 2,819, while whole district has a population of 7.929. The mayor is Metin Levent Yıldız . Most of the people are Sunni, but there is also a Alevi community. Çemişgezek has great...
, Mamuret-ül Aziz, Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
- February 6, 1994, Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, USA) was an Armenian American actress and a survivor of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
.
Biography
Aurora Mardiganian was the daughter of a prosperous Armenian family living in Çemişgezek, twenty miles north of Harput, Ottoman Turkey. Witnessing the deaths of her family members and being forced to march over 1,400 miles, during which she was kidnapped and sold into the slave markets of Anatolia, Mardiganian escaped to Tiflis (modern TbilisiTbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
), then to St. Petersburg, from where she traveled to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and finally, with the help of Near East Relief, to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Here she was approached by Harvey Gates, a young screenwriter, who helped her write and publish a narrative that is often described as a memoir titled Ravished Armenia; the Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Lived Through the Great Massacres (1918). The narrative was used for writing a film script that was produced in 1919, Mardiganian playing herself, and first screened in London as "Auction of Souls." The first New York performance of the silent film under the title "Ravished Armenia
Ravished Armenia
Ravished Armenia is the title of both a book written in 1918 by Arshaluys Mardiganian about her experiences in the Armenian Genocide and the Hollywood film based on it that was filmed in 1919....
" took place on February 16, 1919, in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, with society leaders, Mrs. Oliver Harriman and Mrs. George W. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt
-People:*Vanderbilt *The Vanderbilt family**Cornelius Vanderbilt**William H. Vanderbilt-Places:In the United States:*Vanderbilt, California, a former gold-mining town*Vanderbilt, Michigan, a village*Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania, a borough...
, serving as co-hostesses on behalf of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. Mardiganian was referred to in the press as the Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, describing her role as the spokesperson for the victims of the horrors that were then taking place in Turkey and the catalyst for the humanist movement in America. In the 1920s Mardiganian married and lived in Los Angeles until her death on February 6, 1994.
Books
- Anthony Slide, Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian, Rowman & Littlefield, 1997, 240 p.
- The Burning TigrisThe Burning TigrisThe Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response presents a narrative of the massacres of the Armenians during the 1890s and genocide in 1915 at the responsibility of the Ottoman government. Using archival documents and first-person accounts, Peter Balakian shows the history of how...
: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response, by Peter BalakianPeter BalakianPeter Balakian is a poet, writer and academic, the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities at Colgate University.- Life :...
, 2004, p. 312 - Starving Armenians: America and the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1930 and After, by Merrill D. Peterson, University of Virginia Press, 2004, p. 58