Dikran Katcharian

Dikran Katcharian

Dikran Katcharian was a student studying away from home in 1915 when the whole of his family was killed in Shabin Kara-Hissar, as quoted in ‘The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916’ by Bryce and Toynbee: “The deportation began in the last week of that month. (June 1915 – Ed.) … The Armenians of Shabin Kara-Hissar took warning, and resisted the Government’s decree. Troops were sent against them, and every Armenian in the town and district was put to the sword”.

A relative arranged for him to travel to London and study there, living with a distant cousin of his father. Dikran retained his strong Armenian identity, whilst completely integrating in his new home country, becoming a carpet trader and repairer. He married Adrine Tokadjian, whose family had fled Erzurum in 1905 to Venice and was introduced to Dikran through a friend.

Their daughter Astrid Katcharian tells us the story of her parents’ life in the accompanying video, audio, and transcript.