ADS 2019

Lebanon

Antranig Dakessian | Beirut

The modern history of the Lebanese Armenian community starts with the arrival of tens of thousands of Armenians from Cilicia and coincides with the proclamation of the State of Lebanon[Office1]  in September 1920. In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, the Lausanne Treaty (1923) entitled Armenian refugees to Lebanese citizenship and offered security and political integration into the multicommunal polity of the country. The state’s consociational system—divisions along religious, ethnic and linguistic lines—enabled the Armenian Orthodox Church to organise[Office2]  the refugee community, in line with the modified provisions of the Ottoman-era National Constitution of Armenians. 

Indeed, the Lebanese state system granted cultural autonomy to all communities and legitimised their political share in the country. This, in turn, shaped a unique system of Lebanese multiculturalism and coexistence of various communities with diverse religious, linguistic[Office3]  and denominational backgrounds.

The 1932 official census put the number of Armenians at 32,000. In the following decades, this number reached more than 200,000 due to natural growth and inflows—from Damascus in 1926, the Sandjak of Alexandretta in 1939 and Palestine in 1948—as well as continuous inflows from unstable neighbouring countries. Today, the community is estimated to be somewhere between 40,000-60,000, along with a large number of cohorts of mixed marriages.

The 1920s were marked by the building up of the community. Along with the erection of a monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide in 1923, a number of elementary schools were launched. A local administrative body composed of representatives of compatriotic unions was formed. Gradually, a significant number of the settlers moved from their temporary housing to nearby residences made of stone. Supplemented by sports and cultural clubs, schools and churches, these neighbourhoods developed into the Armenian residential areas of Bourdj Hamoud, Hadjin-Khalil Badawi and Hayashen—and almost all the orphanages were closed. 

Along with the people, the headquarters of the Armenian religious institutions were established in Lebanon. The Catholicosate of Cilicia moved from its historic seat in[Office4]  Sis to Aleppo in 1921 and then to Antelias in 1930. The Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East moved to Beirut the same year; the following year, so did the Armenian Catholic Church. 

In 1939, the Armenians of Musa Dagh—who were brought to Lebanon when France ceded Alexandretta to Turkey—rebuilt their lives in Anjar, the Armenian town in the Bekaa Valley. 

Publications of newspapers and intellectual production have been important part of the community’s development over the decades. Armenian book publishing, which had started in Beirut in 1894, reached a record high in 1956 when 144 books were published that year. In the mid-1920s, a number of newspapers started to be published, such as, chronologically, Punig (1924), renamed Aztag in 1927, Lipanan (1924-1935), Avedik (1932), Ararad, Chanaser and Zartonk (1937). 

All Armenian political parties—including the main three Hnchakian[Office5] , Dashnaktsutyun and Ramgavar—and religious denominations had their official organs. Large number of cultural, sports, educational and youth associations and organisations thrived under the auspices of the political parties and community institutions. Nevertheless, during the Cold War era, perhaps more than any other place in the Diaspora, the community was divided politically into two main opposing camps[Office6]  which lasted for generations. 

Unlike most Diaspora communities, the Armenian community is represented in the Lebanese parliament through elected deputies. In 1929, an Armenian Catholic was elected to represent the parliamentary seat allocated for “Minorities”. In 1934, for the first time ever, a separate seat was allocated for a representative of the Armenian Orthodox community. Over the decades, the number of Armenian deputies in the parliament increased to six. 

The founding of Haigazian College (now Haigazian University) in 1955 marked a significant achievement in the sphere of higher education in the Diaspora. Indeed, the Lebanese Armenian education system—from kindergarten to higher education—was unsurpassed in the Diaspora due to the number of schools, student numbers, curricula, religious seminaries, Sunday and technical schools, and a school for children with learning difficulties.

During the 1960-1975 period, economic, cultural, sports, political, scientific and social activities in the community were at their best. Community life was marked by vitality and dynamism, which shaped variants of the Lebanese Armenian identity. This was a time when Lebanon was considered the “Switzerland of the Middle East”. Armenians were prosperous in business, trade and the entire range of Lebanese economy. Beirut became the national, cultural and religious nerve centre of the Diaspora and its regional capital. During this period, Soviet Armenia acquired increased visibility and presence in Lebanese Armenian space, where Armenians from the region converged. 

The Lebanese civil war in 1975-1990 devastated the community, even as it had embraced positive neutrality. Intra-Armenian colla-boration maintained the unity and strength of the community. However, migration took a heavy toll. By the end of the war, the community had diminished in numbers, capacity and power. A number of university graduates were employed in the Gulf States, which partly compensated for the economic losses of the community, yet reduced its energy. 

Between 1990 and 2005 the community underwent a process of reconfiguration. Several peri-pheral Armenian communities disappeared and new mixed peripheries emerged. There were no relevant community outposts for the upcoming generation, which confronted identity transformation. The natural growth of the community was diversely impacted by the proclamation of Armenia’s independence, the Karabakh war for self-determination and regional instability. In recent years, many Armenians in Lebanon have migrated to Armenia. 

The community is close to the 100th anniversary of her modern history, which comes on the heels of intra-Lebanese, intra-communal, regional and global upheavals. The century is characterised by the naturalisation of a refugee community, its relatively extensive socioeconomic and cultural transformation, organizational efforts and local and transnational output, the formation of a Lebanese Armenian identity and a positive local perception of Armenians, as well as its impact on the Diaspora and its contribution to the growth and prosperity of Lebanon. With such a rich legacy, the community is negotiating its roles and place in both the Armenian and Lebanese spaces. 

Dr. Antranig Dakessian is Associate Professor and Director of the Armenian Diaspora Research Centre at Haigazian University in Beirut. He was a member of the ADS local Advisory Committee in Lebanon.