Reimagining a Lost Armenian Home : The Dildilian Photography Collection

"For nearly a century, members of the Dildilian family practiced the art of photography in Ottoman Turkey, Greece and the United States. This book contains over 300 photographs, most taken during the Ottoman era. The photos record a crucial half century of Armenian culture, with the earliest dating from 1888, when Tsolag Dildilian opened and operated the family business in central Anatolia, first in Sivas and later in Marsovan and Samsun, and the last taken in late 1930s Greece after the family's forced exile from their homeland in 1922. The photographs and the stories that unfold around them capture a defining period in the nearly 3,000-year history of the Armenians in Anatolia and the Armenian Highlands. The early- twentieth century witnessed the violent erasure of the Armenians from their historic homeland, with catastrophic effects for the Dildilian family and their community. Yet this was also a period of unprecedented educational, cultural and commercial development for the Armenians. The Dildilian family was intimately involved in the triumphs and tragedies of these years and this book, through its rich pictorial history, sheds unprecedented light on the real-life experiences of Armenians in the devastating years of the Armenian Genocide and beyond. It is an unusual and original contribution to the social history of the Near East."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Memories of a Lost Armenian Home: Photography and the Story of the Dildilian Family Introduction The Dildilians Before the 19th Century The Dildilians at Mid-19th Century: The Shoe Business in Sivas The 1880s: The Beginnings of the Photography Business in Sivas The 1890s: Photography Comes to Marsovan and Anatolia College 1900–1910: The Growth and Prosperity of the Dildilians and Anatolia College 1910–1914: The Calm Before the Storm 1915: Witnessing the Genocide of a Community August 1915–1918: Survival and Loss 1918–1919: Recovery and the Relief Effort 1920: Life Begins Anew in Samsun 1921: The Final Blow 1922: Struggles and Exile 1923 and After: Renewing Life in New Lands Early Photographs in Sebastia (Sivas), The Ancestral Home of the Dildilians, 1888–1894 The Late 1890s and the Early Years of the New Century Marsovan (Merzifon): The New Home of the Dildilian Family The Marsovan Countryside The Dildilians and Anatolia College The College Campus Life on the Anatolia College Campus Anatolia Hospital The Girls School on the Anatolia College Campus Cities of Anatolia and Their Sights Sebastia (Sivas) Amasya Sinope Inebolu (Inepoli) Kastamonu (Kastamoni) Samsun The Art of Portrait Photography Photographing the Family The Family in Costume Selected Work from the Dildilian Brothers Studio Photographing the People of Anatolia College A Photographic Homage to Those Who Perished Photographing the Aftermath of the Genocide Marsovan Samsun The Dildilians after the War (1918–1922) The Dildilians Rebuild Their Lives in Greece Refugee Camps for the Exiled Armenians and Greeks Athens, Santorini and the Greek Countryside Corinth Earthquake of 1928 The Art of Portrait Photography: Dildilian Studio Work, Kokkinia, Greece, 1923–1940 Selections from the Family Albums For nearly a century members of the Dildilian family practiced the art of photography in Ottoman Turkey, Greece and the United States. This book contains over 200 photographs, primarily from the Ottoman era, beginning with the creation of the family business by Tsolag Dildilian in Sivas in central Turkey in 1882 and concluding in 1922 in Samsun, when the family was forced into exile in Greece. The photographs and the stories that unfold around them capture a defining period in the nearly three thousand year history of the Armenians in Anatolia and the Armenian Highlands. The early-twentieth century witnessed the violent erasure of the Armenians from their historic homeland, with catastrophic effects for the Dildilian family and their community. Yet this was also a period of unprecedented educational, cultural and commercial development for the Armenians. The Dildilian family was intimately involved in the triumphs and tragedies of these years and this book, through its rich pictorial history, sheds unprecedented light on the real-life experiences of Armenians in the devastating years of the Armenian Genocide and beyond. It is an unusual and original contribution to the social history of the Near East Introduction Early Photographs in Sebastia (Sivas), the Ancestral Home of the Dildilians, 1888-1894 The Late 1890s and the Early Years of the New Century The Dildilians and Anatolia College: The Campus Cities of Anatolia and Their Sights The Art of Portrait Photography A Photographic Homage to Those Who Did Not Survive Photographing the Aftermath of the Genocide The Dildilians after the War (1918-1923) Epilogue, 1926.