109-year-old survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Mary Vartanian, was met with thunderous applause as lawmakers and visitors stood in ovation to honor her at the House of Representatives chamber in the Massachusetts State House on Friday morning, reports the Boston Globe.
Vartanian was born Mary Ouzghoushian in 1914 in Ainteb, a city in south-central Turkey. A year later, the massacre of untold thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire would begin. Over the next eight years, 1.5 million Armenians were killed, and many more were removed from their homeland. Vartanian was three years old when her family escaped, moving first to Syria and then to Lebanon, according to her family.
She was widowed at age 55 and a mother of six young adult children. She immigrated to the US in the 1970s, settling in Watertown. In Massachusetts, Vartanian became active in her new community, particularly at St. James Armenian Church in Watertown, where she was once named Mother of the Year. She would crochet items with a cross and the words “Armenians, Armenians do not forget April 24,” and donate them to churches, her family said.
Her daughter, Lisa Darian, said her mother has reinforced that message throughout her life. Darian said, “Tell the new generation not to forget the Armenian Genocide,” while recalling her mother’s advice.
It was for that commitment to her homeland that Vartanian was honored at the State House.
“My joy and my pride is with the Armenian people,” said Vartanian in Armenian.
Vartanian, due to turn 110 in August, has 15 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchildren.
“She’s just an amazing blessing. We look up to her, and we will always follow in her footsteps. We’ll never, never let her sacrifices go in vain,” said Vartanian’s granddaughter.
Vartanian received a Boston police escort from her home at the Armenian Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain to the State House to mark the 109th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. Once inside the packed chamber, Vartanian was recognized for her “contributions to the Armenian-American community” in Massachusetts.”
State Representative David K. Muradian Jr., a Republican from Grafton and one of two representatives of Armenian heritage serving in the house, presided over the 90-minute ceremony.
“The Armenian Genocide is not just the tragedy of the past; it is a wound that still bleeds in the fabric of our humanity, our every fiber of being,” said Muradian,” adding, “Today, we refuse to remain silent. Today, we raise our voices in solidarity with all Armenian people.”
Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian, the newest appointee to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a fellow Armenian, was the keynote speaker. He said Armenian-Americans have an “obligation” to participate in public service and to “protect the rule of law.”
She added, “Throughout much of its history, the Armenian people have lived under the laws and governments of others,” she said. “Now that we have grown and prospered here for over 100 years, it is time for us to do our part to preserve and promote those institutions for future generations.”
Wolohojian said her mother’s grandfather was arrested by Ottoman authorities and sent to prison, where he later died. “What were regarded as his crimes, you may ask?” she said. “The crime of being Armenian.”
