Organizacja rzemiosła i handlu w gminie ormiańskiej w Stanisławowie w XVII i XVIII wieku

Organization of crafts and trade in the Armenian commune inStanisławów in the 17th and 18th centuries “Orientalization” of artistic taste, which could be observed in 17thcenturyPoland, contributed to the development of crafts and trade in Stanisławów.The owners of the city, the Potocki family, were aware of the benefits that the Armeniansettlement carried. In the second half of the 17th and throughout the 18thcentury, a dozen or so Armenian merchant families from Stanisławów occupiedthemselves with trade in Wallachian and Moldavian farms. Both of these countriesplayed a significant role in the transit of goods from the East. In the last decadesof the 17th century, Stanisławów to some extent replaced in oriental trade KamieniecPodolski, which was then under the Turkish rule. In the 18th century, themain subject of trade for Stanisławów Armenians became oxen and horses, importedfrom Moldova via Pokucie, and then driven to markets in Lublin, Warsawand Gdańsk, or to Silesia. Several Armenian families from Stanisławów also tradedin dried fish from the Danube, morocco leather, silk and wine imported fromHungary. In the second half of the 18th century, trade in textiles and products of Armenian furriery in Stanisławów regressed due to being cut off from the marketsafter the first partition of Poland.

Ormianie w Zamościu w pierwszych trzech dekadach istnienia miasta (1580-1610)

Armenians in Zamość in the first three decades of the city’s existence Armenian settlement in Zamość was legally based on the privilege issuedon April 30, 1585 in Belz by the Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Jan Zamoyski,acting as a private owner of the city. Most likely, however, the first Armeniansbegan to arrive in the city even before the official announcement of the privilege.The author presents the process of their settlement in Zamość in the years 1580-1610, discusses the activity of the first Armenian settlers in the city’s life, especiallyin trade, crafts and real estate, as well as the emergence of the representation of thisethnic group in the city authorities and their own community.

Wspomnienie o Wartanie Grigorianie

Memories of Vartan Grigoryan The author describes his contacts with Vartan Grigoryan, an outstandingArmenian specialist in the history of the diaspora in Poland, dating from 1962-2012.He discusses the researcher’s creative output and patriotic attitude.

Ochrona dziedzictwa ormiańskiego w działaniach Fundacji Kultury i Dziedzictwa Ormian Polskich

Protection of the Armenian heritage in the activitiesof the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians One of the basic statutory tasks of the Foundation for the Culture andHeritage of Polish Armenians in Warsaw, established in 2006, is to save the materialheritage of Polish Armenians. Its collection, mainly originating from Armenianchurches in the former Eastern Borderlands, consists of a large archive of parishdocuments, record books, parchments, manuscripts, old prints, books, magazines, photographs, icons and liturgical paraments. This resource was moved to Polandwithin its new borders after the end of World War II, thanks to the efforts of priestsand parishioners. The Foundation, in 14 years of its activity, has ordered and inventoriedthese resources. They are made available at the Foundation’s seat, as well asin the Virtual Archive of Polish Armenians and through the public platform www.szukajwarchiwach.pl. From its beginnings, the Foundation has also undertaken thenecessary emergency work on the most endangered objects, and, depending onthe amount of obtained funds, also conducts conservation works.

Stosunki czesko-ormiańskie

Czech-Armenians relations: a brief historical survey Armenian studies in Czech Republic became more widely known toCzech public in recent years. Following up the long tradition of Oriental studies ingeneral, a newly re-established research centre was opened at the Department ofEast-European Studies at Charles University, aiming to cooperate with other colleagues.After long and heated discussions, Czech Republic decided on (albeit nonofficial) recognition of Armenian Genocide and supports initiatives to prevent suchviolence in future. Several monographs dealing with this subject were published recently.And finally, despite the fact that the Czech Republic has no historical experience with the presence of Armenian diaspora before the year 1990, well establishedand coherent Armenian community exists here now and – especially in Prague –shows a high degree of integration into Czech majority. Already two generations ofCzech Armenians are following their identity strategies while preserving their owncultural identity.

Nauczanie języka ormiańskiego na Uniwersytecie Lwowskim w latach 1904-1939

Teaching the Armenian language at the University of Lwówin the years 1904-1939 The first attempts to introduce an Armenian language course at the Universityof Lwów were made at the beginning of the 20th century. The authorities ofthe Faculty of Philosophy obtained the consent of the Ministry of Religious Affairsand Education in Vienna to open a course of Old and New Armenian, which wasconducted in the years 1904-1933 by Rev. Bogdan Dawidowicz. The classes wereattended by seminarians of the Armenian-Catholic archdiocese, linguists, orientalistsand others interested in Armenian issues. Typically, two hours a week were allocatedto these classes. Students learned Armenian grammar and literature, including theworks of Movses Khorenatsi and Raffi (Hakob Melik Hakobian), as well as with thespecific conditions of the development of the Armenian language in Poland. Afterthe death of Rev. Dawidowicz, Garabed Keuprulian continued the course, focusingon West Armenian. In the interwar period, lectures on Armenian language and classicalliterature were conducted by professor Andrzej Gawroński from the Institute ofOriental Studies, while professor Jerzy Kuryłowicz taught Old Armenian from thehistorical and comparative perspective. During the discussed period, the universitycommunity in Lviv and the activists of the Archdiocese Union of Armenians werealso involved in publishing aimed at popularizing knowledge and broadening thestudies in the field of the Armenian language.

Wartan Rubenowicz Grigorian (1929-2019)

Vartan Rubenovich Grigoryan: historian, armenologist, publicist,collector of ancient Armenian manuscripts (1929-2019) The author outlines the profile of Dr. Vartan Grigoryan, an outstandingArmenian historian, a longtime researcher at the Matenadaran Institute of AncientManuscripts in Yerevan. Against the background of a private biography, he analyzeshis scientific achievements, including those relating to the history of Polish Armenians,as well as his attitude to the national heritage of Armenia and the issue of itsindependence, and in this respect, also his commitment to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Fundacja Rozwoju i Wspierania Studiów Armenologicznych „Aniw” – przegląd działalności

Foundation for the Development and Supportof Armenian Studies “Aniv”: a brief overview of activities The Foundation for the Development and Support of Armenian Studies“Aniv” was officially registered in 2015 in Moscow and in 2019 in Yerevan. Previously,its founders (private persons) individually carried out various projects relatedto Armenian issues. The mission of the foundation is to support the interests of Armeniaand Armenians through academic research, cultural and public projects. Themain areas of its activity are: organizing and conducting research on the history andculture of Armenia; promoting the development of dialogue in the field of Armenianstudies (armenology), establishing and developing contacts between Armenian academicsfrom different countries of the world; preservation and popularization of thehistorical and cultural heritage of the Armenian people; supporting researchers andyoung scientists involved in Armenian research.

Towarzystwo Polsko-Ormiańskie we Lwowie (1920-1922)

Polish-Armenian Society in Lwów (1920-1922) Using Armenian and Polish sources, the author analyses the activities ofthe Polish-Armenian Society (Towarzystwo Polsko-Ormiańskie) founded in Lwów(Poland) on June 15, 1920. This organization focused on building relations betweenPoland and Armenia. Its leaders, Jan Grzegorzewski, Garabed Keuprulian and AugustTeodorowicz established cooperation with the Armenian National Delegationin Paris, chaired by Boghos Nubar Pasha, and with its branch in Berlin. They alsoundertook the difficult mission of lobbying for the Armenian case in Warsaw. In thefirst phase of its activity, the Society planned to relocate Polish Armenians (officialsand intelligentsia) to the territories of Western Armenia; due to the deteriorating internationalsituation, the idea was abandoned. Subsequently, efforts were focused onhelping Armenian refugees from Turkey in the Caucasus; on this matter, the Societymade an appeal to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Konstanty Skirmunt.The suspension of the Society’s activity was related to the deterioration of Armenia’ssituation on the international arena. With the abandonment of the Armenianquestion by France and Great Britain, the exchange of letters with activists in Parisalso stopped. The author compares the Society with its counterpart in London – theBritish Armenian Committee, emphasizing the organization of Polish Armenianswas truly exceptional because it was the first one of its kind, and also because itfocused not on the problems of the local diaspora, but on the issue of Armenia’s independence.

„Kto czym się bawi i z czego żyje”

“How people play and how they make a living”. The professionsof Armenians from Kuty on the Czeremosz River compared to those of othernations at the end of the 18th century The article focuses on professions and activities of the Armenians fromKuty on the Cheremosh River in comparison to other ethnic groups at the end ofthe 18th century. The author used several file documents (mainly from the 1880s)of a fiscal nature, which contain information on individual households, such as:the location of the house (main square, “backside”, i.e. at the back of the property, suburbs, etc.), ethnicity of the owner and his profession, i.e., the source of the family’slivelihood. This list was confronted with the previously unknown plan of thetown from 1781. In the case of the Armenian community, the image of the familystructure was completed by the 1791 list of the faithful of the Armenian Catholicparish in Kuty. On the basis of the above-mentioned documents, the author has prepareda list of house-owners (available in the annex), which was used to describeand analyze the professional structure of the Kuty community and the place occupiedby the Armenians. It turned out that in Kuty at the end of the 18th century therewere professional niches, monopolized by individual ethnicities. Armenians dominateda few, but one of their most exclusive niches was the production of moroccoleather. They had manufactories which professionally absorbed other ethnic communitiesas helpers, suppliers of raw materials and recipients of finished goods for tradeor for further processing. The article also refers to the ethnic topography of Kuty, describingthe places of Armenian and Jewish settlement in the town itself and multiethnicsettlement in the suburbs. The appendices attached to the text contain a list ofmunicipal and suburban house owners around the year 1789.