THE MELKONIAN INSTITUTE IN CYPRUS: A BIG ASSIGNMENT FOR THE UNION
The project of opening an AGBU-run school took shape immediately after the conflagration in Smyrna. The central board had been searching for an appropriate place in which to settle some of its orphans then living in Beirut and all of those living in Jerusalem. One of the options it considered was to build the school on land owned by the Armenian Monastery of St. Makar in Cyprus. The site in question included both farmland and buildings available for rent, and it lay fewer than ten miles from Nicosia. Furthermore, the project enjoyed the support of Bishop Sarajian, the president of Nicosia’s city council.60 In November 1922, the Union dispatched Dikran Aslanian to Cyprus to assess the possibility of setting up an orphanage and agricultural school there. In January 1923, Aslanian submitted a report to the central board in which he pointed out the drawbacks of the proposed site, especially the unhealthy climate and the shortage of rentable housing.61 For his part, Aghaton Bey, a member of the board, observed that malaria was wreaking havoc in the region. The Union therefore rejected the option of building its school in Cyprus.62 ... Read all
The AGBU's Orphanages in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Cyprus
Krikor Melkonian, Armenian industrialist from Egypt, one of the creators of the Melkonian Foundation (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Garabed Melkonian, Armenian industrialist from Egypt, one of the creators of the Melkonian Foundation (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).