My grandmother talked about
her grandfather Ivan Aivazovsky all the time
Armenia,
Russia and Ukraine, with commemorative stamps, coins and exhibitions, are
commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous seascape
artist Ivan Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Aivazian). It was a pleasant surprise to
learn that descendants of the famed marine painter live in Australia. My first
contact was Amanda Rogers, who gave me details about her family’s links to Ivan
Aivazovsky. Later she put me in touch with her cousin Prof. Andrew Miller, a
radiation oncologist from Wollongong. The first interview concentrated mainly
on the family history and the links to Ivan Aivazovsky. This is the transcript
of the interview that was aired on SBS Radio Armenian program on Tuesday July
25, 2107.
Language
Armenian
By Vahe Kateb
SBS
Armenian: Before
proceeding to the main subject of the interview, could you introduce yourself,
talk about your career and interests?
Andrew: My name is Alexis Andrew Miller.
I was born into a family which on my father’s side was quite Australian for 3-4
generations, but with a mother who was born overseas. I am a radiation
oncologist living in Wollongong NSW. Although my mother spoke many languages, I
only speak English. In the 50s and 60s it was un-Australian to teach your
children a foreign language if not needed. In fact, my parents’ generation used
their foreign languages so that we could not understand what was being
discussed.
SBS
Armenian: What can
you tell us about your family background and heritage?
Andrew: My mother was named Sultana
Alexis. She was born in Turkey of Russian parents. The name Alexis came from
her father, Alexis Samoilov. In fact, there is an Alexis in each generation
now. My eldest daughter is also Alexis. The use of the name Sultana was to
attempt to lessen the prejudice of Muslim people towards Christians in that
area at that time. My grandmother told me that they were called “Christian
dogs”. This was real as my grandmother almost killed her children as they
were starving. Fortunately for me, she did not take action on the thought and
the event led to significant changes in her life, eventually meeting and
marrying a British naval officer, William Henry Rogers.
Sultana Alexis Miller (daughter of Varvara Lampsi)
My
grandmother was born Varvara Lampsi. Her father was Ivan Lampsi and was
Aivazovsky’s grandson through his daughter Alexandra. In fact, Ivan’s wife died
soon after birth, Ivan was unable to care for the baby and so his brother Kolya
and grandmother Alexandra raised her in Aivazovsky’s mansion in Theodosia. We
have a picture of Vava sitting on Aivazovsky’s knee from 1896 when she was ~2
years old.
Varvara Ivanovna Lampsi (circa 1937)
SBS
Armenian: How you
discovered your families’ heritage links to Aivazovsky?
Andrew: I spent about half of my
childhood living with my grandmother, so the Aivazovsky link was well known to
me for as long as I can remember. She spoke of him as if he was her
grandfather, and she recalled his house and character often. She had this way
of telling us that “we have no idea”, and finding out more about her
living circumstance with the privileges of wealth, I increasingly understand
what she meant. The echoes of many famous people occupy the family mansion.
My cousins
have only come into the knowledge of Aivazovsky more recently. Having been
immersed in the knowledge of IKA, it never occurred to me that they didn’t
know.
SBS
Armenian: Did you
know much about Aivazovsky, his work and how revered he is in Armenia and Russia?
Andrew: I did not see any of
Aivazovsky’s works until I was already out of school. The only publications
about IKA were Russian and not available in Australia. My mother took an
overseas trip in the 1970s, and she brought back a book and some prints for
each child. Unfortunately, mine has bleached nearly completely. However, to
find how revered he was, that was far more simple. One only needed to ask a
Russian or Armenian! “No-one paints the sea like Aivazovsky!” was the
common reply.
SBS
Armenian: Since
discovering your family’s links to Aivazovski, have you done any research about
Aivazovski and his family?
Andrew: While my grandmother was alive,
she was the prime source of information but she was very good at keeping what
she thought should be a secret. Now we want to shout everything from the
rooftop, but their generation knew about shame and intrigue. My sister was told
many more stories that I was! There were always holes in the stories that I was
told. So I was told “they met”, my sister was told “they had an
affair”! I was told “he was a friend”, she was told “He
wanted to marry me!”
After she
died and I inherited her remaining papers, I began to follow leads as well as I
could. Hence the letter to the Theodosia Gallery. However, I do know that Vava
burnt a lot of papers in the months before she died because she wanted the
secrets to go to the grave with her.
SBS
Armenian: Have you
found any new relatives?
Andrew: There were four IKA daughters.
who married men named Lampsi, Lattri, Hansen and Artseulov. There are relatives
in each of these lines.
The
Russian Revolution resulted in the dispersal of many of Aivazovsky’s
descendants. They were stripped of resources and singled out for subjugation.
As a result, the Lampsi and Lattri lines became refugees and traveled from
Theodosia to land and settle in Gerze on the northern Turkish coast south of
Sinop. It is strange how things intertwine but one of IKA’s famous naval
paintings is the Battle of Sinop, where the Russians decimated the Ottoman
fleet. The refugee ship was actually owned by the grandson-in-law of IKA,
Everico Mickeladze. He was from the Georgian royal family and a judge in the
Crimea. I believe that he escaped on the ship also by I don’t have any
documentary confirmation of this. My details on the Hansen line are sketchy at
present, but Hansen was a German ambassador according to my grandmother, and so
would have been immune to the political upheavals of Russia. My grandmother,
Vava, and her husband, Alexis arrived in Gerze ~1919-1929 and had 2 children,
my mother Sultana Alexis and my uncle Dimitri.
In 1998 I
wrote to the Theodosia Gallery introducing myself and asking if there were any
relatives known. As best as I could translate the reply, I was astonished to
find a relative. About 18 months later in 2000 I received an email from a
relative telling me that there were others.
The
Lampsi line consists of 27 living relatives in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra,
Hobart and Wollongong. I belong to the oldest generation of that line.
The
Lattri line continued and lives in England. Dr Henry Sanford who comes from the
generation before mine is 90 and still lives in Chelsea. he has a son, daughter
and granddaughter.
The
Hanzen line continues but only through marriage. Our prime contact in Russia,
Irina Kazatskaya, comes from this line, and was the relative who sent the email
in 2000. She told us about the Lattri line and that a great granddaughter of
IKA was still alive in Paris.
My
youngest brother, David, became very passionate about the family history and in
2002 visited Theodosia and met Tatiana the great granddaughter in Paris.
Through
his efforts we know about the Artseulov line. Until recently we know of a
musician in NY named Nick Artsay who is a descendant. In the last few weeks, we
have heard again from Irina that there are other Artseulov relatives in Moscow.
The Artseulov line is famous because the grandsons of that line had stellar
military careers. One was a pilot and was the first to document how to get your
plane out of a spin.
SBS
Armenian: Have you
researched about the history of Armenia and Armenians?
Andrew: I have researched some Armenian
history. I know of the position of Armenia and the fact that they go against
the trend. I know that their history has been proud and distinct but frequently
overrun by surrounding nations in their ascendancy. This has always resulted in
hardship for the Armenians who seem to me to want nothing more than to pursue
their aims of trade to ensure their future and of cultural preservation to ensure
their distinctiveness. These desires culminated in the Armenian genocide. I
know that Australians, who identify with the underdog, had a special
relationship with the Armenians. I have a book about this which unfortunately I
have not read yet.
One of my
colleagues, Dr Roland Alvandi-Yeghaian was born in Iran of Armenian parents and
through him I have learnt of the Armenian Diaspora. He has impressed on me that
just one drop of Armenian blood makes you entirely Armenian in his mind!
SBS
Armenian: Any other
topic not covered and you want to talk about it?
Andrew: After the war, the family
consisting of William Henry Rogers, Vava, Sultana and Dimitri decided that they
wanted to live somewhere where there was no war and likely to be no war. They
selected Commonwealth countries, and as a merchant ship captain started
travelling the globe. Australia was the place that fit the bill, and so they
stopped in Melbourne, bought a property in Blackburn and remained there until
they died in the 1990s. Blackburn is 17 km from Melbourne, and at the time was
all orchards. There were two houses on the street. Both William Henry and Vava
are buried in Box Hill cemetery.