Posthumous “Travel” of Bedros Tourian
Writer Bedros Tourian died at the age of 20 in 1872. At that unexpected and difficult moment his friends suddenly memorized that the talented young man didn’t have a photo. They immediately called painter Abraham Sargsyan, that at least on the deathbed he painted Tourian. However, death has so distorted Tourian’s face, that the painter refused from that experience.
(Later on, by memory, using similarity of relatives a conditional image was to be created, which for many years would be considered Bedros Tourian’s portrait). He was buried in the Armenian cemetery of Constantinople’s Üsküdar district. Thus, the 85 years went on.
In 1957 Turkish authorities suddenly decided that a highway should stretch through the territory of the cemetery and applied to the citizens to move the graves of their relatives. Tourian’s grave was damaged, like that of many others. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople immediately assumed reburial of the writer. Those days upon assignation and participation of Patriarch Garegin Khachaturyan Tourian’s relics were moved deeper.
However, something happened on that very day, which became known only years later. Written edifice by Karpis Toghramachean is maintained, which reads, “I, Karpis Toghramachean, has been porter of Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey since 1950. I will edify, that I personally was present next to the deceased Garegin S. in 1957, when Bedros Tourian’s grave was being dug and his bones were being moved deeper, as a road was to be constructed instead of the cemetery.
I personally put bones of his skull into a box, which was first moved to the seminary, where it stayed for a few months, and then we moved it to the Patriarchate, where they are until now.”
Similar evidence was given by the grave digger—Mihran Aktagh, and his written note is preserved in the archive of Charents Museum of Literature and Arts. In September of 1967 he confirms that it was him to dig Duryan’s smashed skull and handed it to the priests.
Patriarch’s intention was not so clear. In any case, the writer’s skull was being kept semi-secret, and only unique, trusted people could see that. After his death protection of Tourian’s relics were passed on to Archbishop Shnork Galustean. The newly appointed Patriarch those days considered important to write a note, which reads,
“Deceased Patriarch showed me bones of Tourian’s skull and said they have been taken out from Duryan’s grave in 1957, when a part of Üsküdar was being allocated for road construction and, hereinafter, the honored relic will be under our care.”
Andranik Tchagharyan with the sculpture of Bedros Tourian
The upshot was recorded in 1969. Making use of the necessity to leave for Etchmiadzin, the Patriarch decided to take Tourian’s skull to Armenia.
He thought shelter for the other part of his body should be his homeland, and for amateurs of his poetry that second gravesite should be a sacred place. To avoid unnecessary troubles cautious Patriarch hid the skull under his soutane and crossed the border.
Archbishop Shnork hands writer’s skull to Catholicos of all Armenians Vazgen I. however, the Catholicos, in his turn, not only doesn’t hurry to organize that reburial, but hands it to Charents Museum of Literature and Arts. The thing is, the Catholicos had different intention and wish. He wanted to restore Tourian’s real face, after which destiny of the skull would be decided.
Vazgen I hands Bedros Tourian’s relics to the Museum
Throughout those years Andranik Tchagharyan, anthropologist and skull expert, was rather popular, who by means of innovative methods of plastic anatomy was able to reproduce an image based on the skull odds. Vazgen I relied on his support by keeping the skull in the Museum. And the Museum employees didn’t waste time.
Later Tchagharyan would recall that prominent moment for many times and not without excitement, “It was in May of 1970, when director of the Museum S.Meliksetyan caringly handed me a small wooden box, where weather-stained bones with soil were found, “These are odds of Bedros Tourian’s skull, let’s try to restore the writer’s face.”
Restore Tourian’s face…accept the proposal or not? I have had many excitements in my scientific life, however, I confess what came over me at that moment is impossible to describe. No, it was not happiness or pride, maybe, first and foremost, it was fear. Yes, I was afraid of Tourian, his unique charm…”
Tourian’s restored face is introduced to the public
However, science and emotions don’t like combining, and the specialist sits down to work. His record of May 19 has been maintained on common anatomic-anthropological description. It particularly read, “…The skull is badly maintained, they are smashed odds. Lots of parts lack, 20 teeth have been preserved, there is threaded injury on the forehead with the length of 2cm (probably it’s recorded while digging the grave and the skull was smashed from the mattock strike as a result)…”
Odds of Bedros Tourian’s skull
Then one after the other long working days followed, full of miscellaneous and also unexpected surprises. For instance, at a certain moment suddenly it became clear that in the odds bones are found which belong to an elderly woman. The confused scientist didn’t understand the reason. And only later he succeeded to clarify that next to Tourian his mother has been buried and while moving the graves his bones were found with those of her mother.
Finally the moment came. Bedros Tourian’s bust was placed in Tchagharyan’s study. The professor was sure that the writer’s face was exactly like that. Only the society was to accept him the way the science gave birth to, reaching from abstractedness to objects.
What happened then are known facts. Many Armenians positively assessed restoration of the writer’s face, and Andranik Tchagharyan wrote a scientific work about it, and Tourian’s odds were embalmed in the Pantheon’s memorial wall in 2012.
Tourian’s grave
Hovik Charkhchyan
