*NOTE: The hyperlinks in square brackets [ ] do not work in this
blog, please scroll to the bottom to read the links.
I
don’t normally stray far from the stories of Armenians in India and SE Asia,
but on this occasion I shall.
As
I researched something completely unrelated I came across that well known name
of Gulbenkian. Armenians around the
world know of the Gulbenkian Foundation and the important work they do in
supporting many great projects and causes. The familiar name of Calouste
Gulbenkian was not what caught my attention, but rather a cousin whose own
legacy also went on to set up a foundation.
 |
| Gullabi Gullbenkian. Courtesy of AGBU Flickr. |
Gullabi
Gulbenkian, arrived in the USA around 1890[1]
and very soon started Gullabi Gulbenkian & Co[2],
a rug and carpet business in New York. A few years later he was joined in the
family business by his brothers Badrig and Haroutiune Gulbenkian.
 | |
 the Gulbenkians often held sales through retailers |
 |
| 1911 Advert |
 |
| 1920s Advert |
All
took naturalisation in the USA. Another brother, Garabed settled in England in
1903 with his family. The three New York
brothers made regular trips back to Constantinople to source rugs of every
size, colour, design, and rarity at prices to fit all budgets.
 |
| 26 July 1907 Stark County Democratic, Canton, Ohio |
Gullabi was the driving force of
the business quickly gaining a reputation as a reliable supplier and with it,
respect among fellow traders. In 1892 he traded from 119 E. 61st in
New York, by 1903 the business had moved to Broadway and by 1910 it was on 5th
Avenue where it remained for many years.
It
was in 1907[3]
that the brothers’ lives were put in serious jeopardy. In New York, businesses were being targeted
by blackmailers and the Gulbenkian brothers found themselves caught up in this
gangland terror. They were threatened several times to comply or suffer the
consequences. The gangs grew frustrated by the defiant stance the Gulbenkian
brothers took, and the ultimate threat was made. A death warrant had been
issued on all three Gulbenkian brothers.
In
a high profile case reported in several newspapers across the USA, it was alleged that an Armenian priest, Father
Levont Martoogessian of New York, was involved with extortion and blackmail of
the Gulbenkian brothers, and other wealthy Armenian traders of New York. These
threats came on the same day as the murder of another Armenian rug dealer
Tavshanjian who had refused to give in to the extortion demands.
An
extract from one of the newspapers:
“It is alleged
that Father Levont Martoogessian, sometimes laid aside his priestly robes to
practice extortion and blackmail.[4]
The priest is now the central figure in the conspiracy which the district
attorney seeks to prove had for its object the robbery of wealthy Armenians and
led to the murder of the rug merchant Tavshanjian, in New York, and others who
refused to be financially bled……one of the charges against him (Martoogessian)
was that of a blackmail letter which the District Attorney states Father
Martoogessian either sent the letter or caused it to be sent. The letter was
mailed in New York on the afternoon of July 22, [1907] the day that Tavshanjian
was shot. It was written in red ink in the Armenian language and was signed by
the symbol of the terrorists, three hands with daggers uplifted, posed above a
red heart. The letter was addressed to the Gulbenkian brothers:
Gulabi Gulbenkian & Co
Brunswick Building, New
York.
Death Warrant:
The executives of the
Constantinople Armenian Revolutionary Terrorists’ Organization condemn to death
Haroutian Gulbenkian, Gulabi Gulbenkian and Patrick (sic) Gulbenkian, three
brothers, who entirely have deaf ears to all appeals for national freedom. Our executive board, having given its
decision to Haroutian and Gulabi Gulbenkian, in Armerica, give theme 24 hours’
time to decide between their duty and death.
CONSTANTINOPLE ARMENIAN
REVOLUTIONARY TERRORISTS’ ORGANISATION.
The letter is
dated “Constantinople, June 27, 1907.” Following the letter is a postscript,
also in red ink, which reads as follows:
“Although neither prison
nor hanging can prevent us from fulfilling our duty to the end, it is necessary
that you should know. If you betray this
letter or cause harm to one hair in the heads of one of us – against that
consider your whole family wiped out.”
A witness stated
that he had often attended meetings of the Hunchakist Society at which
Martoogression presided.”[5]
 |
| 2 August 1907 Norfolk Weekly Journal |
This
became a long and protracted case, covered extensively by the press.
The
outcome found Fr. Levont guilty, he was unfrocked and sent to prison for 2.5
years.
Upon
his release from jail Martoogessian rallied his supporters who, he claimed
would not allow their children to be baptised by anyone else other than him. He
declared he: “..was wrongfully expelled from
his church, and that the charges brought against him were false.” He went on: “ that he had been out of the Hunchakist Society for a full year when he
was condemned, and that the extortion indictments were absurd, as he was only
collecting money to aid the Armenians….” [6]He
and his followers denounced the Gulbenkians and other Armenians of New York,
announcing a “strike against God” to try and force his position to be reversed.
He declared that Armenians across the country would stop attending church until
he was returned to the priesthood where he said was his rightful place. It
never happened.
It
is cruelly ironic that 11 years later after the ‘death warrant’ incident, and having
survived numerous serious threats aimed at him, his family and
other Armenian merchants, Gullabi
Gulbenkian was callously shot at point-blank range and murdered by a
disgruntled employee of his carpet business on 5th Avenue, New York.
From
The Evening World 24 July 1918
“Inspector
Cray of the Homicide Bureau sent out scores of detectives today to search for
Mugriditch Mihitarian, who killed his employer and benefactor, Gullabi
Gulbenkian, and mortally shot Serope Gulbenkian, his nephew, in the Gulbenkian
rug emporium at No. 225 Fifth Avenue. Serope died at 9pm in New York Hospital.
Inspector Cray has taken personal direction of the case.
Gulbenkian, the murdered
man, was one of the wealthiest Armenians in the world, and his friends today declared it was one of the
freaks of fate that after he had refused for years to pay tribute to Armenian
blackmailing organisations who repeatedly threatened him with death, he should
have been slain by a man he had befriended and whom he wanted to pension for
life at $25 a week. The slayer lives
with a wife, a daughter, fourteen, and a son, eleven, at No. 235 East 25th
Street.
The killing took
place late yesterday in the rug establishment, at the corner of 27th
Street, over Brentano’s bookshop. The
slayer was employed as a porter in the store.
According to his
friends and associates, Gullabi Gulbenkian, with his brothers Haroutiune and
Badrig and his dead nephew, have given hospitals and relief stations, food and
supplies to Armenia to the extent of $5,000,000 since the beginning of the
war. Their home is in Pelham. The older victim was fifty four years old;
his nephew, thirty one. The slayer is
forty seven.
The porter for
years had taken advantage of the protectorate of the elderly merchant, fellow
employees said, neglecting his work, flying into rages with every one and
making himself a general nuisance about the shop.
The Gulbenkians
as well as their assistants grew tired of the tantrums of Mihitarian, and
recently it was decided to pension him off.
For eight or nine months he had shown up only for a couple of hours each
day.
The subject of
pension was broached to him Monday. He
assented seemingly. Yesterday afternoon just before 4 o’clock he appeared at
the shop and said:
“If I am to work
here no more I want a letter of reference.”
A letter was
made out for him and he was given the money due him. He went about shaking
hands with the other work people and saying goodbye. He reserved his last
farewell for his employer.
As Gullabi
Gulbenkian extended his hand the porter pulled a revolver from his pocket.
“Mugriditch!
What do you mean?” exclaimed the merchant.
The porter
fired, with the muzzle of his gun so close that it burned the clothing of his
employer. The bullet tore a huge hole
through Gulbenkian’s side, coming close to the heart.
The nearest
person was the nephew, Serope. He saw
the preliminaries and grappled with the porter just as he fired. Mihitarian stepped back a pace and fired a
shot into the nephew’s abdomen. Serope
fell too. Others overpowered the porter, who suddenly broke away and fled.”
Serope
Gulbenkian was the son of Badrig, Gullabi’s brother. Serope had just completed
three years with the Armenian military and had travelled to New York to help
run the business. His life cut short trying to save his family. Badrig had previously
suffered close family bereavements with the loss of his wife in Turkey in 1903,
one cannot imagine how he must have felt to lose a son in such terrifying
circumstances.
 |
| Extracted from The Monumental News, Vol. XXXIII, No.1,
January 1921, P.21, the Gulbenkian monument was erected following the death of Gullabi Gulbenkian |
 |
| Via BillionGraves. Several members of the Gulbenkian family are buried close to this monument at Woodlawns Cemetery, including the murdered uncle and nephew Gulbenkians. |
A
year later in 1919 Gullabi’s Will was eventually filed for Probate[7]
and it can be seen that his bequests towards Armenians were generous, leaving
$300,000 for Armenian philanthropy, which at today’s purchasing power equals
over $4.7 million.[8]
 |
| The Evening World, 3 April 1919 |
 |
| Via 'Hoosharar' Obituary June 1930 |
 |
| Vergine Gulbenkian via public tree on ancestry.com |
It
was opened in 1935, five years after the death of Badrig, the mantle of
philanthropy being taken up by his son Nerses who oversaw the hospital project.
However, according to Edward Gulbenkian Jnr, President of the Gullabi
Gulbenkian Foundation, as at June 2016 the hospital has illegally been taken
over as an old peoples’ home and the Gullabi Gulbenkian Foundation who fund the
hospital, have been unable to get any maternity service up and running. A short video has been made by Edward
Gulbenkian on the situation with the hospital and you can watch that here.
Badrig
and his surviving brother Haroutiune continued importing and trading in rugs
and carpets in New York with continued success. Haroutiune passed away in 1947[9]
in New York, Badrig’s son Nerses passed away in 1957 in Wales.[10]
A
further blog is required to discuss the lives of Badrig and Haroutiune,
something I may write in due course. Both men continued to be hard-working and
successful, generously giving back to the community, although further tragedy
dogged the family later in years.
Gullabi
was incredibly generous towards Armenians when he was alive and it continues
long after his murderous death.
Postscript:
Krikor received his education at St Paul's School before entering his father's business. At the time of the 1911 census, Krikor Gulbenkian was working as a clerk to his father while living with his family at 2 Holland Park, Notting Hill. A number of other Armenian families with connections to India lived in Holland Park, such as the Apcar’s, Bagram’s and Gregory’s.
Krikor enlisted on the outbreak of war in 1914, joining the Middlesex Regiment as a 1st class signaller. After being recommended for a commission in February 1917, Krikor trained as an officer in Britain before returning to the Western Front as a second lieutenant on 1 September. His death came just nineteen days later, on the 20th, in the Third Battle of Ypres, while serving with the 23rd (Service) Battalion (2nd Football), as a 2nd Lieutenant of the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment). [11]
He has no known grave but is commemorated at TYNE COT MEMORIAL, West-Vlaanderen Belgium.
 |
| Middlesex Regiment Medal Role, Krikor Gulbenkian WW1 |
 |
| War Register entry for Krikor Gulbenkian WW1 |
“UK Armenians & WW1 project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and delivered by the Centre for Armenian Information and Advice from April 2016 to December 2017. The project will undertake archival research; record and preserve personal memories, photographs and other media relating to this period for future generations.
It will cover a wide range of multimedia activities, including talks, research, workshops, interviews, photographic exhibition and film production, and will create a comprehensive resource for the UK Armenian experiences in the WW1.”
Sources used for this blog entry:
AGBU on Flickr
Ancestry.com
Archive.org
BillionGraves.com
British Library
California Digital Newspaper
Collection
Digital Library of India
Families in British India Society
Find A Will, Government Website
Findmypast.co.uk
Forces War Records
Gullabi Gulbenkian Foundation
Hathi Trust Digital Library
Hong Kong newspapers online
Liz Chater’s Private Archive
London Gazette
National Archives Kew
Newspaper.com
Papers Past. New Zealand newspapers
online
Singapore newspapers online
Trove. Australian Newspapers online
[1]
United States Federal Census, 1910
[2]
US City Directory, 1892
[3]
New York Times 4 August 1907
[4]
The Norfolk Weekly News 2 August 1907
[5]
Alexandria Gazette 1 August 1907
[6]
New York Daily Tribune 19 September 1910
[7]
The Evening World, 3 April 1919.
[8]
Calculated using www.measuringworth.com
[9]
Court Case: In the Matter of the Construction of the Will of Gullabi Gulbenkian,
Surrogate’s Court, Westchester County, 16 Misc.2d 1054 (N.Y. Misc. 1959).
States dates of death of Badrig and Haroutiune Gulbenkian respectively.
[10]
England and Wales National Probate Calendar
[11] The
National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; WWI Service Medal and
Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2240
