Gevorg Stepani Grigoryan The Portrait Artist George Stepani Grigoryan (Giotto) (November 12, 1897 (November 24), Tbilissi – 1976, November 23, Yerevan), is one of the 20th century's few artists of the first half, whose creative world hero is an individual who has passed a difficult life path, has an indomitable…

Gabriel Lekegian, also known as G. Lékégian, was an Armenian painter and photographer who worked in Constantinople and Cairo from the 1880s to the 1920s. He left a significant body of work under the name 'Photographie Artistique G. Lekegian & Cie’. He documented Ottoman Egypt at the turn of the…

Oral tradition: c. 9th century CE The Armenian national folk epic "David of Sassoun" embodies the spirit of the Armenian people in their long-standing struggle for freedom from oppression and invasion. The epic portrays the Armenian heroes as the nation's protectors against all attempts by foreign powers to subjugate their…

Sébah The Photographic Family Syriac-Armenian photographer Jean Pascal Sébah lived from 1872 to 6 June 1947. He carried on his father's photographic legacy after his father passed away in 1886. Pascal Sébah (1823–1886), established a photographic studio in Cairo in the mid–1850s and a second one in Constantinople in the…

Eliz Partamian The Impasto Artist Eliz Partamian, an Egyptian-Armenian artist who born on December 10, 1930 and died on August 23, 2007, received her elementary education initially at Kalousdian Armenian School in Cairo, graduating in 1944, then from 1944–1947 at Immaculate Conception School (I.C.S.), …

Papazians the Guardians of Precious Memories Armenian-Egyptian watchmaker Papazian, whose store has been in Cairo for almost 120 years, is a rare museum-like place where old clocks and watches are beautifully restored, away from the hustle and bustle of the capital. Traffic jam in Ataba Square, surrounded by street vendors…

Kegham Djeghalian The First Photographer In Gaza Kegham, the grandfather, was from Armenia and traveled to Jerusalem as a child with other survivors of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. He grew up in Jerusalem and Jaffa and worked in a photography studio, where he learned the basics of the craft…

Baruyr Bardizbanian The Painter and Architect Baruyr Bardizbanian (1887-1932), was born in Istanbul, and studied architecture and painting in its School of Fine Arts, probably between 1902 and 1907. In 1923, Bardizbanian came to Egypt according to doctors' advice because of its mild and dry climate and worked as a…

Mardiros Sarkis Balayan The Talented Calligrapher Mardiros Sarkis Balayan (March 1, 1891–October 24, 1957) was born in the village of Sağmiga (now Boğazlı), located 20 km southwest of Arapgir (present-day Kemaliye). He was obliged, on September 1, 1905, to migrate to Egypt with his family. In Cairo, the promising Mardiros…