St Tarkmanchatz parish school
2,000 years of glorious history
For most of the world, Calouste Gulbenkian will always be known as
Mr Five Percent, the man who held that much stock in the Iraqi
Petroleum Company.
But
for
Armenians
in
general,
and
their
Old
City
of
Jerusalem
in
particular,
the
name
Gulbenkian
evokes
notions
of
a
much
grander
and
more
lasting
perspective:
this
is
the
family
that
has,
for
over
two
centuries,
held
Jerusalem
above
all
their
joys,
lavishing upon it veneration, affection and largesse that can never be quantified.
"Two
centuries
of
Gulbenkian
presence
is
engraved
on
the
town
and
its
stones,
as
many
commemorative
inscriptions
and
votive
tablets
proclaim,"
as
Astrig
Tchamkerten
testifies
in
"The
Gulbenkians
in
Jerusalem"
(2006,
Calouste
Gulbenkian
Foundation,
Lisbon), her definitive book on the Gulbenkian association with Jerusalem.
The
Gulbenkian
connection
to
the
Patriarchate
of
St
James
in
Jerusalem
is
an
ironclad
tradition
established
a
century
ago,
and
destined
to
be
a
permanent
feature
of their association.
It
is
no
heresy
to
declare
that
the
Gulbenkian
Foundation,
having
fallen
in
love
with
the
unique
entity
that
is
the
Holy
City
of
Jerusalem,
has
decided
to
adopt
it
as
its own.
The
affection
is
reciprocated
by
the
Patriarchate
which
continues
to
honor
the
dynasty and pray for its endurance and the success of all its endeavours.
Tchamkerten
has
succeeded
in
capturing
the
soul
and
essence
of
the
Gulbenkian
affinity towards Jerusalem, an affinity that has passed beyond the bonds of devotion.
There
is
almost
not
a
single
facet
of
the
Patriarchate's
manifold
institutions
that
has not benefited from the Gulbenkian munificence and magnanimity.
The
164-page
book,
written
by
Tchamkerten
to
mark
the
50th
anniversary
of
the
Foundation,
is
painstakingly
researched
and
lavishly
illustrated
-
some
of
the
photographs have never been published before.
The
oeuvre
provides
a
running
historical
commentary
of
the
Gulbenkian
association
with
Jerusalem,
accentuating
the
Foundation's
"respect
for
the
[Christian]
faith, for education and for charity."
She
theorises
that
Calouste
Gulbenkian's
personal
attachment
to
Jerusalem
goes
back
to
that
memorable
day
when
as
a
child,
he
was
brought
to
the
city
to
have
his
hair cut for the first time, in accordance with Armenian tradition.
The Old City would become a lifelong fascination for Calouste.
Tchamkerten
reminds
her
readers
that
the
Armenian
presence
in
Jerusalem
had
been
well
and
truly
established
even
before
the
advent
of
Christianity,
in
the
wake
of
the conquest of Syria and Palestine by the Armenian emperor Tigranes II.
When
Armenia
adopted
Christianity
as
its
state
religion,
the
influx
of
Armenian
pilgrims
intensified,
leading
to
the
establishment
of
the
Armenian
Patriarchate
of
St
James in Armenian Compound, that covers over a quarter of the area of the Old City.
Tchamkerten
traces
the
emergence
of
the
Gulbenkian
dynasty
to
the
Reshtouni
princes, first mentioned in Armenian historiography in the 5th Century.
The
nobility
is
evident
in
every
philanthropic
undertaking
the
Foundation
has
launched,
not
only
in
Jerusalem,
but
in
other
parts
of
the
scattered
Armenian
presence.
"The
Calouste
Gulbenkian
Foundation
is
also
an
institution
that
is
open
to
the
world,
beginning
with
the
Armenian
world
and
its
far-flung
diaspora,"
as
Tchamkerten
notes.
"Nobody
but
the
Gulbenkian
Foundation,
with
its
Armenian
roots,
has
faced
so
great
a
diversity
of
needs
from
the
various
peoples,
communities,
authorities
and
institutions
of
the
diaspora.
This
may
be
the
source
of
the
originality,
strength
and
authority
of
the
name
Gulbenkian,
in
Jerusalem
as
in
Lisbon"
where
it
has
its
headquarters.
In
an
aside
reminiscent
of
William
Saroyan's
"I
should
like
to
see
any
power
in
this
world
destroy
this
race,"
Tchamkerten
wonders
how,
"beyond
this
illustrious
[Gulbenkian]
family
and
the
continuous
benefits
they
brought,"
"a
nation
as
small
as
the
Armenian
nation
could
have
achieved
such
influence
in
Jerusalem,
within
such
a
disturbed
international
city,
when
the
nation
had
neither
the
status
nor
the
prerogative
of
a
State?
Perhaps
we
could
identify
some
traits
possessed
by
the
Armenians
and
argue
for
them:
their
devoutness,
their
rich
culture,
their
flair
for
diplomacy and finance."
Among others.