Marina Mavian: To Live as an Armenian in Italy

Where was your family from?

My father Girair (Jirayr) was from Bursa, and his family moved to Constantinople, when he was a child. I have been to Istanbul three times and it was a strange feeling to know my family house is still somewhere in that city. My mother was born in Venice to an Italian father, Carlo Mascarin and an Armenian mother, Nevart Ichlemedjian, who was from Smyrna, now Izmir. When they got engaged, they planned to live in Smyrna together. But while Nevart and Carlo were in Venice, the big fire of Smyrna happened in September 1922, so they never returned to Turkey. Meanwhile, Nevart’s parents managed to escape from there and moved to their daughter’s place in Venice.

Do you have family relics?

We do. (Marina takes me to another room and shows me a painting on the wall). This Madonna and child, painted in 1870 by an Armenian painter, is from Smyrna. My grandmother’s mother, Makruhi, while escaping from the fire with her husband Karnik, instead of taking jewels or money, took this painting. A Turkish gendarme attacked her with a sword, but she shielded herself with this painting, and you can see a cut on it. Then they jumped into the water and swam to a French vessel. You can see also traces of the water here. They reached Italy on that French ship and were refugees in a camp in Puglia. From there, they found their way to Venice. Their daughter Nevart had no news from her parents for a long time. One day she saw her mother and father, both safe and sound on her doorstep in Venice, with the portrait of the Madonna…

Another survivor of my family was uncle Boghos (Shishmanian), Nevart granny’s cousin. He was around 18 years old at the time of the Genocide, when they took him away, and just like in Fatih Akin’s film, “The Cut,” they cut his throat. Boghos was left under a heap of dead bodies, but his bleeding was stopped by the snow, and he managed to survive. He, too, eventually reached Venice, where he found employment and continued his life.

It is great that you also formed an Italian-Armenian family. Moreover, your daughter is involved in Armenian studies.

Yes, I am very proud of this. My daughter Stephanie (Pambakian) devoted many years to her studies and defended her doctoral dissertation on seventh century Armenian scientist Anania Shirakatsi last March under the supervision of Prof. Valentina Calzolari (University in Geneva), Dr. Tim Greenwood and Prof. Palmer (University of St Andrews). She also taught courses of Classical Armenian in Casa Armena – Hay Dun. Some Armenians from the community took part, but there was also a great participation from an Italian audience – among the students, we were honored to have Don Matteo Crimella, a catholic priest and lecturer at the Facoltà Teologica of Northern Italy. He produced a beautiful translation and commentary of the 24-stanzas prayer of Nerses Shnorhali, “In Faith I Confess,” which also features the grabar original. Stephanie presented this book in Hay Dun last June, and Don Crimella said that thanks to Stephanie he finally had access to the wealth of Armenian spiritual literature. This makes me more proud of my daughter!