ARMENIANS IN ARGENTINA
Noyan Tapan
27.11.2009
Armenians first settled in Latin America in the 17th century and it
was in 1729 when the first Armenian set foot in Argentina. There were
rarely any Armenians settling in Argentina in the 19th century and the
only Armenian that is remembered now was military figure Yanosh Tsets
(Hovhannes Tsetsian) who settled in Buenos Aires in 1861 and founded
a local military school.
A number of Armenians came to settle in Argentina in the 1910s when the
Argentinean government started welcoming large groups of immigrants
with the specific purpose to develop the country’s agriculture. The
Armenian General Benevolent Union’s Argentina chapter was the first
Argentinean Armenian organization established in 1911.
In 1914, there were nearly 2,000 Armenians living in Argentina and
in fact, the Argentinean government recognized the First Republic of
Armenia in 1918-1920.
After the fall of Cilicia and the fire in Zmyurnia in the early 1920s,
the local Armenians traveled to different ports in boats and then
followed the path to different spots on the South American continent.
Armenians were mainly based in Argentina and Brazil. Historians
consider the years between 1923 and 1938 as the period during which
the Argentinean Armenian community was actively formed. The Argentinean
Armenians established daily Armenian schools and presses and one of the
longest-running presses was "Armenia", which was founded in 1931 and
has been publishing to this day. Later, Armenians established Armenian
churches in Buenos Aires and elsewhere. There are six Apostolic,
two Evangelical Churches and one Catholic Church in Buenos Aires alone.
In 1937, prominent figure, Archbishop Garegin Khachatrian was appointed
the first Armenian Patriarch of South America and pursued his career
in religion and literature there. In 1943, there were nearly 20,000
Armenians living in Argentina. They were mainly small merchants and
industry workers and lived primarily in the capital.
However, there were also Armenians in Cordoba, Rosario, Berisso,
Mar del Plata and Tucuma.
Armenian cultural life was not active in the community in this period,
but there were some cultural figures. Among the most memorable were
writers Vartan Kevorkian, Ren (Ruben Vartanian) and historian Ashot
Artsruni. Among those who worked in circles of Argentineans were
historian Narsiso Binaian, singer, painter and journalist Eme Ramos
Mekhia (Arpine Shahparonian) and educator Lia Siruian, who was the
first to teach by the principle of rhythmics in Buenos Aires.
Large groups of Armenians from the Near East and European countries
(especially Romania and France) immigrated to Argentina especially
after WWII. There are currently 70,000 Armenians living in Argentina.
The center of community life is at the Armenian Center comprised
of the trustees of the Armenian Apostolic Church. All community
organizations function under the leadership of the center.
In the course of decades, Argentinean Armenians have had many public,
educational, cultural and athletic unions, daily and Sunday schools,
local chapters of the Armenian conventional political parties,
patriotic unions, the "Armenian National Assembly of Argentina"
and the Armenian Studies’ institution, which was created in 1986 and
helped establish a department of Armenian studies at the University
of Del Salvador. There were also choirs, dance groups and the "George
Sarkisian" theater group which was created in Buenos Aires in 1984
and performed in Yerevan in 1999.
Among other unforgettable Argentinean Armenians are former president
of the State Mint of Argentina, Armando Kostanian, Minister of Justice
of Argentina in 1992-1993 and the state of Buenos Aires in 1998-1999,
Leon Carlos Arslanian, chairman of the standing committee of the
House of Deputies of the Argentinean National Congress on issues
of tourism, Alejandro Balian, historians Narsiso Binaian Carmona
and Pascual Ohanian, composer Alicia Terzian, Spanish-language poet
Augustine Davidian, Armenian-language writer Petros Hatchian, dancers
Hayk Kajberunian and Vahram Hambartsumian.
Due to the turbulent political-economic state in Argentina, a number
of Argentinean Armenians immigrated to different countries and a
committee supporting Armenian repatriates was formed in 2001.
Businessman, president of the "Corporacion America" company Eduardo
Ernekian currently carries out large-scale activities in Armenia and
one of his projects was the state-of-the-art renovation of Armenia’s
"Zvartnots" airport which is under Ernekian’s liability for 30 years.
Spanish-language poet Alicia Kirakosian, who was once a beloved
poet in Armenia, currently lives in the USA and writes in both
English and Armenian. Argentinean Armenian historian, philologist
Vartan Matevosian is also in the USA and in 2005 he presented a very
interesting historical research on the presence of Armenians in Latin
American countries.