Birth of Krikor Zohrab (June 26, 1861)

Known as the “prince of the Armenian short novel,” Krikor Zohrab was also a skillful and highly regarded lawyer, as well as an experienced member of the Ottoman Parliament. His parliamentarian immunity, however, was violated to turn him into one of the victims of the first wave of arrests and killings of intellectuals that began on April 24, 1915. 

Zohrab was born into a wealthy family in the district of Beshiktash (Constantinople) on June 26, 1861. He started his elementary studies at the local Makruhian School. In 1870, his father passed away and his mother remarried. The family moved to Ortakoy, where Krikor Zohrab and his brother Mihran continued their education at the local Tarkmanchats School. In 1876, he entered the Galatasaray School and graduated in 1880 with a degree in civil engineering, but went to work in his stepfather’s law office and entered the law section of the Galatasaray Institute, which was soon closed due to a lack of Muslim students (it had 45 Armenian, 2 Muslim, 2 Jewish, and 3 Greek students). In 1882, he enrolled in a newly opened law school, the Imperial University of Jurisprudence, but dropped out in 1884 and passed an exam in the city of Edirne, obtaining the title of lawyer. 

Zohrab had already entered the literary field in 1878, becoming a contributor to the daily Lrakir. In the 1880s he would become one of the prolific names in the literary movement of the time. In 1885, he was the publisher of the journal Yergrakount, edited by Hagop Baronian, the famous satirical writer, where he published his first novel, A Disappeared Generation. He released it in book format in 1887. He edited and contributed to the literary journal Masis in 1892-1893, and also wrote for the dailies Arevelk and Hairenik. He became the master of realism, propelled by French writers such as Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola, which became the only genre to be called “school” in Armenian literature.  

Zohrab married Clara Yazejian in 1888. They had four children: Levon, Dolores, Aram, and Hermine. Dolores Zohrab-Liebmann would later become a philanthropist in New York City. In 1891, Krikor Zohrab was elected delegate to the National Assembly, but his election was annulled because he was not yet thirty years old.

He took a long break from literature in 1893-1898, devoting himself to his profession. This period also coincided with the Hamidian massacres, which also impacted his literary activity. He often represented foreign citizens in the first commercial court, due to his knowledge of French. He was also a translator and legal advisor to the Russian embassy in Constantinople, and managed cases for Russian citizens. Masis, now a daily, made a comeback in 1898, again edited by Zohrab, who returned to his literary endeavors, coupling them with his professional activities. In 1906, however, after he defended a Bulgarian revolutionary in a criminal case accusing a Turkish official of torture, he was disbarred. He went to Paris, where he published a law monograph in French.  

He was planning to settle in Egypt with his family when the Young Turk coup d’état of 1908 and the restoration of the Ottoman Constitution changed his plans. He returned to Constantinople and was elected member of the Ottoman Parliament. He was known for his eloquent speeches.  He vehemently defended Armenian interests and rights. After the double Adana massacre of April 1909, he strongly criticized the Turkish authorities for their actions and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice. To serve the Armenian cause, he wrote an influential paper in French called “La question arménienne à la lumière des documents” (The Armenian Question under the Light of Documents), published in 1913 under the pseudonym Marcel Leart in Paris.  

Also, in 1909-1911 he collected his novellas and short stories in three volumes, Life as It Is, Silent Pains, and Voices of Conscience. He also published Known Figures, portraits of contemporaries, and From the Traveler’s Journal, a series of travelogues. 

Simultaneously with the Ottoman Parliament, Zohrab also became a member of the Armenian National Assembly. He raised the issue of reforms for the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which led to the signature of the Russo-Turkish agreement in January 1914, thwarted after the beginning of World War I. 

After the roundup of intellectuals on April 24 and following days, Zohrab pleaded for the liberation of his compatriots and an end to the ongoing atrocities. He was personally acquainted with many officials, including Minister of Interior Talat Pasha. However, his efforts were useless. Despite their parliamentary immunity, Zohrab and his colleague Vartkes Serengulian were both arrested on May 21 and dispatched to Diyarbakır for a purported trial by court martial via Aleppo, where they remained for a few weeks, waiting for the result of attempts to have them sent back to Constantinople. They were sent to Diyarbakır, but savagely killed in the outskirts of Urfa between July 15 and 20, 1915.

Krikor Zohrab’s memory as an outstanding writer and lawyer has remained alive for a century. His books have been widely published, and his short stories have been included in many school textbooks. In May 2017, a plaque honoring him and commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide, was inaugurated at the School of Lawyers of the Appellate Court of Paris.