Tigran H. Boyajian
(1895–Armdan–1975–Boston)
In the Yerznka district of the Erzrum province lies the small village of Armdan, where the villagers’ livelihood was provided solely by livestock breeding.
The well-known Western Armenian writer Hagop Mnzuri (Demirjian) was also born in Armdan and later moved to Constantinople.
The Benefactor Boyajian was born in June 1895, into a peasant family environment, remaining far from the Hamidian massacres.
He received his primary education at the village school of his birthplace, and then his parents sent him to the Armenian Catholic school of Diarbekir to continue his studies.
When the young Tigran learned at the age of 14 about the Adana massacres of 1909, the national revolutionary spirit was forged within him.
The opportunity for secondary education was lacking in the rural surroundings of Armdan, but a paternal relative had emigrated to the United States early on, and wished to invite Tigran to his side, to continue his education.
In 1910, Tigran Boyajian came to Providence, to his father’s relative, to attend secondary school and become acquainted with the English language.
A year later, the relative who was caring for him died, and the young Tigran, left alone, relied on the care of the then leader of the Providence Armenian community, Dr. Arshag Der Markosian.
Suren Partevian, editor of the Reformists’ official organ “Azg,” invited Tigran to his side, to work as a typesetter for the official organ, while continuing his studies at the Providence secondary school.
By his ideological conviction, he joined the ranks of the Reformists.
In 1916, after completing his secondary education with brilliant success, he was admitted to the renowned Brown University to obtain his Bachelor of Arts degree.
During this period, Boyajian became acquainted with the French language through self-study, and in 1917, after moving to Boston, with ideological fervour he joined the Eastern Legion, when he learned that his family members had fallen victim to the Genocide.
As a legionnaire, he joined the French army, and in Palestine he participated in the Battle of Arara.
After the war, with the Armenian legionnaires, under the leadership of Jim Changalian, he passed into Cilicia.
In Cilicia, he was entrusted with the organisational matters of aid to Armenian refugees, chiefly due to his knowledge of foreign languages.
In October 1919, he returned to Boston, and was entrusted with organising a fundraising campaign for the Armenians of Cilicia.
But unfortunately, that enthusiasm was not to last very long, because of the French’s close cooperation with Kemalist Turkey.
In 1920, Boyajian entered the law department of the well-known Northeastern University in Boston, and graduated in 1924 as a lawyer, and the following year received his Master’s degree from the same university.
The beginning of his long and successful legal career was laid in Boston.
After the formation of the newly established ADL American chapter, he became part of the chapter’s leadership, supporting the publication of the “Baikar” daily.
Boyajian’s participation in public life became notable within the newly established Armenian colony of Greater Boston, by supporting the programmes of the AGBU chapter.
Alongside the church structures of the United States, the chapters of the Knights of Vartan Brotherhood were carrying out active work, and Boyajian also brought enthusiastic participation to the Brotherhood.
In 1935-36, he became the Supreme Commander of the Brotherhood, which has always been a respected community office among Armenian-Americans.
For “The Armenian Mirror Spectator,” the English-language Ramgavar Azadagan publication brought to life in Boston in 1932, Boyajian became a permanent contributor.
And his historical articles were often valued with importance by the readers of the “Baikar” daily.
In 1945, the Benefactor, together with Centurion Jim Changalian, took an important role in the formation of the AGBU Central Board of America, becoming a member of the Central Board, whose headquarters were established in New York.
Within the composition of the Diocesan Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern America, Boyajian assumed responsible offices in various terms, and was elected diocesan delegate to represent the Eastern Diocese of America at the National Ecclesiastical Assembly convened in Etchmiadzin, for the election of Vazgen I as Catholicos of All Armenians, in 1955.
He again assumed the office of Supreme Commander of the Knights of Vartan Brotherhood in 1961.
In 1965, Boyajian was entrusted by the Armenian National Council of America to present a memorandum to the UN General Secretariat on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Boyajian’s participation in Armenian-American public life as a lawyer became notable when, at the invitation of AGBU President Alex Manoogian, he became a member of the AGBU Central Board of Directors.
Alongside journalism, Boyajian devoted himself to the study of matters related to the History and Culture of the Armenian People, and in 1952, in New York, his translation into English of Eghishe’s work “VASN VARDANATS YEV HAYOTS BADERAZMIN” was published, together with which saw the light the Western Armenian translation, made by another ADL Benefactor, Dr. Hovhannes Tsovikian.
In 1965, from the printing press of the “Baikar” daily, Boyajian’s years of labour saw the light as a separate volume, under the title “THE ARMENIAN LEGION – A HISTORICAL MEMOIR.”
His study related to the Armenian Genocide saw the light in New Jersey in 1972, under the title “ARMENIA – The Case for a Forgotten Genocide,” which at the time earned high appreciation from American historiographical circles.
In his advanced age, the Benefactor remained a respected Armenian-American devoted national figure, and in Boston he closed his eyes forever in 1975.
Ara Aharonian
