Why Cairo in 1906 ? Answering this question first will help us grasp the motivations of the AGBU’s founders and the context in which they took their initiative. It should be recalled that while Cairo was then a city in the full flush of economic development, it was, above all, one of the centers of the Ottoman opposition. Here all those banished by the Hamidian regime could find refuge, whether they were Young Turks and members of the political opposition, high-ranking officials fallen into disgrace, Armenian activists, or journalists and writers, a breed Abdülhamid found particularly noxious. In comparison with the Ottoman Empire, the Egypt of the day was a land of liberty for all such outcasts, a natural place of exile where they were sure to be well received. With the exception of Boghos Nubar, who was born in Cairo, all the AGBU’s founders came from the Ottoman capital or provinces, which they had left under duress either before or after the 1894-1896 Hamidian massacres in ... Read all
Boghos Nubar (1851-1930), founder of the AGBU (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris)
Dr. Nazareth Daghavarian (1862-1915), physician, agricultural engineer, director of the Armenian hospital in Istanbul, first secretary general of the AGBU, member of the Ottoman Parliament from 1908 to 1915, and founder of AGBU branches in Constantinople and Asia Minor (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris)
The Origins of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
The Origins of AGBU_
An Armenian Destiny (video)
Raymond Kévorkian: The Foundations of AGBU (video)