The kaghakatsi family tree project has received a tremendous boost with a batch of new contributions from community leader Hagop Hagopian, an LA resident currently visiting Australia.
     Hagop has not only traced his clan's family history back to one of the community's most memorable recent ancestors, but also compiled a list of the forgotten colorful clan nicknames that characterized the residents of the Armenian Quarter.
     Unfortunately, his records go back only over a century and a half, but they fill in a lot of the blanks in the main database.
     Hagop's paternal grandfather was Hagop Hovsepian (he later changed his surname to Hagopian), a Sefer Berlik (First World War) survivor whose several brothers were born to different mothers. Apparently, his father, the patriarchal clan head Yousef El-Banna, married more than four times.
     There is a mystery surrounding one of his grandsons, Sahag (Levon's son). He was born in 1907 but apparently disappeared later in Saudi Arabia.
     Hagop has also handed us the family history of the Elian clan, prepared by Michael Elian who is currently living in Beverly Hills. Michael has taken the trouble to write up some 9 pages for the project.
     "This is the best that I can do - considering that I have been out of Jerusalem since 1949," he notes. "We still have the nucleus of the JABU (the Kaghakatsi social and cultural club) here and are trying to continue the tradition."
     In compiling his list of clan nicknames, Hagop had the assistance of a worthy matriarch, Serpouhi Shahinian, mother of Ardashes Shahinian. In her 90's, Serpouhi sat down to jot painstakingly jot 7 pages of reminiscences, ending with this declaration: