Garabed (Garo) Babahikian
(1926′ Beirut – 2020′ Beirut)
Forty days ago, at the age of 94, falling victim to the viral pandemic, the ADL’s Meritorious and Devoted Veteran Garabed Babahikian passed away in his birthplace, Beirut.
The veteran was born in Beirut in February 1926; he was the eldest son of Hachin survivors Devlet (Haji Devlet Paykaruni) and Eugenie Babahikian. After receiving his primary education, Garabed attended the St. Gregory the Illuminator Jesuit Fathers’ School for his secondary studies, becoming acquainted with the French language.
After completing his secondary education in 1945, he entered the arena of life, working for a lead smelting factory in Beirut, and within a short time specialised in that craft.
From a young age, the veteran had begun taking part in the AYF athletic movements developing in Beirut, joining the AGBU. From an early age, an interest in national-community life was sown within him, and he contributed to the local electoral work in Beirut.
In 1950, Garabed entered the ranks of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, encouraged by the then chairman of the Party’s Lebanese Regional Board, Attorney Hrachya Sedrakyan, and within a short time became a respected rank-and-file member for those who knew him, becoming a board member of the R.A.K. Bourj Hammoud Tamadian Club.
Garabed had his own small lead smelting factory in the well-known Armenian Tiro district of Bourj Hammoud, which within a short time would find success and expand.
Babahikian’s commercial ventures progressively took a successful course when, with a skilful approach, he acquired an important plot of land in Bourj Hammoud, which he was later able to put to profitable use and obtain a substantial income, which initially became the expansion of his workshop’s programme.
The veteran’s dedication to community life had a turning point when he joined the board of trustees of Beirut’s Vahan Tekeyan School in 1963.
During this period, the TMM’s Founders’ Body was developing a plan to expand the Vahan Tekeyan School and endow it with a new and modern building, which would be realised in the autumn of 1965.
The school’s newly built edifice rose thanks to nationals devoted to the cause, among whom was Babahikian. The school was also built on the empty plot of land facing his workshop.
Garabed chose as his life partner Hasmik, the younger daughter of Aintabtsi Hovsep Uzunyan, and within their Armenian-scented family nest, their three children grew up: daughters Jenny and Sosi, and their son Sepuh.
For a period, Garabed was a member of the executive body of the AYF Andranik-Sevan Club, where he carried out vigorous activity.
In 1969, he again joined the board of trustees of the Vahan Tekeyan School, whose chairmanship was assumed by his close associate Panos Titizian. In the following ten years, the school’s economic improvement would take priority for him.
In 1970, the veteran joined the ADL Lebanese Regional Board, and within that body greatly contributed by assuming responsibility for the party circle’s external relations.
Babahikian’s contribution was great during the 1975-77 Lebanese civil war, especially thanks to the connections he had with foreign circles.
Patriotism and the homeland’s advancement always held priority for him; he was always an encourager of the successes achieved by homeland intellectuals and artists.
In 1974, he became the sponsor of the monumental album “Monuments of Armenia,” prepared through the efforts of Dr. Robert Chepejian and Vazgen Tutunjian.
In the 1980-81 term, he became chairman of the ADL Lebanese Regional Board.
And in 1982, he assumed the chairmanship of the Vahan Tekeyan School’s board of trustees, whose advancement and survival had become the object of his care.
He had gathered around him graduates of the school who, having entered the arena of life, had come to become trustees of the school they had graduated from.
With Babahikian’s material support, certain programmes of the Committee for Cultural Relations with the Diaspora Armenians were realised in the Homeland, the most important of which were the cultivation of three different varieties of apple saplings and the production of Middle Eastern bread, which at the time were appreciated as constructive work.
In 1988, the veteran was invited by Prof. Barunak Tovmasyan to join the TMM’s Founders’ Body.
The unionist life of the Lebanese-Armenian community and especially the national-community ferment had become a priority for Babahikian; in 1990, he assumed the chairmanship of the construction committee of the “Demirjian Center” in Antelias, whose construction was completed in 1993.
In 1991-96, he was a member of the AGBU Lebanese Regional Committee, assuming the office of secretary, and in 1995, at the convened 19th General Congress of the R.A.K., he was elected a member of the ADL Central Board.
Babahikian’s industrious presence within Party and unionist life was always highly appreciated by his colleagues, and as a successful industrial businessman, he always remained respected, especially by foreign circles.
The 70-year-old veteran was entrusted in 1996 with organising in Beirut the ADL’s splendid 75th anniversary celebration under the motto “With the Homeland, For the Homeland”; among the high-ranking state guests were the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Yervant Melkonian, and the then Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri.
Before the end of the same year, he was this time entrusted with the chairmanship of the TMM’s Founders’ Body, an office he would competently hold for the following 15 years.
During his chairmanship, relatively younger elements joined the Founders’ Body, while the multi-storey building in the city centre and the Vahan Tekeyan School in Bourj Hammoud always remained at the focus of the veteran’s care.
For his long years of service to the AGBU, he received the double veteran’s certificate, and in 2007, the ADL Central Board presented him with a Jubilee Meritorious citation, and he was invited to join the Central Board as an advisory member.
To appreciate Babahikian’s long years of national service, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos, decorated him with the “Knight of Cilicia” order.
In his advanced age, he closely followed and encouraged community programmes, becoming an enthusiastic sponsor of the AGBU Hachin Orphanage album, as well as the construction of the ADL Armenia “Armenak Yekarian” shooting range.
The veteran departed from life on 31 October 2020, remaining a respected and self-sacrificing national, for his unwavering services.
Ara Aharonian
