Forthcoming books from the Gomidas Institute

[chinchilla]

Yervant Odian, Accursed Years: My Exile and Return from Der Zor, 1914-1919
Yervant Odian’s Accursed Years is a remarkable account of the Armenian Genocide written by an Armenian intellectual in 1919, soon after the events in question. His survival during this period was probably due to the fact that he avoided arrest in Constantinople on the night of April 24, 1915 by going into hiding.

Joan George with a foreword by Christopher J. Walker,
Merchants to Magnates, Intrigue and Survival: Armenians in London, 1900-2000
This book is the first serious attempt to write a popular history of the Armenian community of London.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joan George is a British Armenian. Her mother, Marie-Nevarte Manoukian, born into Manchester’s Armenian community, became assimilated when she married Roger Chorlton, a member of an old established Manchester family. However, despite having an English father, upbringing and education, Joan’s interest in her ethnic origins remained.

[chinchilla]

Yervant Odian is considered to be one of the greatest Armenian satirists so it would be interesting to read a book about the genocide from his perspective. Apparently his account contains some humor.

Anyway, thank goodness for the Gomidas Institute. They do great work. But finding some of their books is rather difficult. They should be more widely available.

[chinchilla]

They're even hosting a symposium on the Adana massacre in March 2009.

How many Armenians live in the UK? Wikipedia links to an estimate with an unbelievable 18,000. It's probably half that. There are nearly half a million of us in southern California yet we can hardly manage to put together events like these every couple of years.

[bell-the-cat]

They're even hosting a symposium on the Adana massacre in March 2009.

How many Armenians live in the UK? Wikipedia links to an estimate with an unbelievable 18,000. It's probably half that. There are nearly half a million of us in southern California yet we can hardly manage to put together events like these every couple of years.

18,000 will be a big underestimate. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the US invasion of Iraq there were about 15,000. So a good guess would be maybe 30,000 to 35,000 there now.

[chinchilla]

18,000 will be a big underestimate. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the US invasion of Iraq there were about 15,000. So a good guess would be maybe 30,000 to 35,000 there now.

I forgot about Iraq. The UK was the destination-of-choice for Iraqi Armenians before the invasion, and I suppose it is now. Though many of the post-invasion Iraqis have also settled in Sweden.

But bell... here is a 2006 article by The Times which says "Of the 2,651 people of Armenian descent in Britain, more than 1,600 run businesses and a high proportion live in expensive parts of west London."

2,651?? Did they not do their research?

[bell-the-cat]

I forgot about Iraq. The UK was the destination-of-choice for Iraqi Armenians before the invasion, and I suppose it is now. Though many of the post-invasion Iraqis have also settled in Sweden.

But bell... here is a 2006 article by The Times which says "Of the 2,651 people of Armenian descent in Britain, more than 1,600 run businesses and a high proportion live in expensive parts of west London."

2,651?? Did they not do their research?

2651 people running 1600 businesses - with that proportion, even Armenian children must be running their own businesses! I think someone has missed out a zero from that 2651 figure.

[chinchilla]

Fine, fine. 2651 + Princess Diana.

[Steph]

Fine, fine. 2651 + Princess Diana.

and just a leeetle bit of Catherine Zeta Jones....................................(maybe)

[chinchilla]

Well, she couldn't use Jonessian as a stage name...

So Steph, how many of these 2,651 Armenians live in Sheffield?

[Steph]

Well, she couldn't use Jonessian as a stage name...

So Steph, how many of these 2,651 Armenians live in Sheffield?

We're working on increases!