The AGBU’s Armenian School System
Two schools once administered by the AGBU in Sheikh Maksud and Jerablus, Syria (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
THE ATTEMPT OF THE NEW YORK CENTRAL OARD OF DIRECTORS TO DEVELOP THE SCHOOL SYSTEMIN THE MIDDLE EAST AND GREECE IN THE 1950s
The political polarization prevailing in the Armenian communities of Syria and Lebanon survived the withdrawal of French troops and the French administration from those countries and the subsequent emergence of independent states. The competing Armenian political formations blithely pursued their battles in various domains, especially for control over the schools: here each camp carried on the struggle to impose its influence. Immediately after World War II, the competition began afresh with the construction of a large number of schools in Beirut, Aleppo, and Damascus. More than ever, the school system served as a vector for political ideas and a tool for consolidating the influence of the different political groups.
As in the 1930s, the AGBU’s educational activities were affected by these struggles for influence, the more so as it had now made schools its priority. In fact, its local leaders were convinced, not without reason, that they offered Armenian society the best available educational program, and were hard at work applying it in the institutions they ran. The AGBU’s Syrian and Lebanese chapters... Read all
Two schools once administered by the AGBU in Sheikh Maksud and Jerablus, Syria (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Leila (Lila) Karagheusian in 1954 (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).