Mardiros Kharanian, c. 1930, the scholar and cartographer who created detailed maps of Armenia and of the Armenian Highland. Kheranian and his family lived in Van until 1918, and participated in the defense of Van. Kheranian is the great uncle of author Matthew Karanian.
Mardiros Kheranian was a professional cartographer who had lived in Van during its siege by Ottoman Turkey. He also taught at the Monastery of Varagavank and he participated in the defense of Van in 1915.
I never met Mardiros. Indeed, I never met most of the prominent members of my family who had contributed to the Hye Tahd, the Armenian Cause. So many of them had lived and died one long before I was born.
But I learned about my Great Uncle Mardik from my grandmother, and from historians, and from the legacy of maps that he created for the Armenian nation.
In 1927, nearly a decade after Van had burned to the ground and after the rest of Van’s Armenians had become refugees, Mardiros created several original maps of Van and of the Armenian Highland.
Mardiros earned part of his living from these maps. He was a teacher and he was known to work on the maps during class, while his students were preparing their lessons. Mardiros would then sell the maps to supplement his income.
Mardiros Mardik Kheranian was part of the large family of Kheranians who had lived in Van in 1915. The 1930 publication The Defense of Van, which was written by an eyewitness to the siege, identifies family members Mihran Khranian (Kheranian) as the leader of two defense posts, and Khatchig and Vahan Khranian (Kheranian) as combatants.
Other prominent members of the family include Yeghishe Kheranian, who was a Vartabed (High Priest) at both Varagavank, near Van, and at Karmravor, a monastery located on the south shore of Lake Van. The writer Mkrtich Kheranian was also a Vanetsi (native of Van) and is celebrated in Yerevan for his many books, poems, and literary translations.
The Kheranian family was split apart by the genocide. Some survivors, including Mardiros, fled south to Syria. Others who had remained in Van until 1918, including the writer Mkrtich, fled to Yerevan.
My grandfather, the Vanetsi Hovhannes Kheranian, left Van in 1912 when he was 17 years old, three years before the genocide. He traveled to New Britain, Conn., with the intention of earning a lot of money and then returning to Van with his wealth.
He never returned. Records from the Hairenik newspaper, a US-based periodical that is published in Watertown, Mass., show that on April 22, 1919, my grandfather—who was then about 24 years old—had placed an advertisement searching for information about his lost relatives of Van. But he never saw them again.
And so the Kheranians are among the hundreds of Armenian families who today count themselves among the last Armenians of Van. And among the first Armenians in America.
For more information and other stories, see the book, The Armenian Highland or visit www.HistoricArmeniaBook.com.