Title:
RECORDS RELATING TO THE THOUMAIAN FAMILY
Level: Category
Miscellaneous
Level: Fonds
RECORDS RELATING TO THE THOUMAIAN FAMILY
Scope and Content:
Professor Garabed Thoumaian was a Christian Turk imprisoned for his beliefs by the Sultan. Born in Marsovan in 1852 he studied in Lausanne in Switzerland where he met and married Lucy Rossier de Visme. The couple set up home in Turkey where Prof. Thoumaian taught at the American Theological College in Marsovan. His wife then travelled to Europe to raise funds to set up a Mission Hospital. In 1893, whilst she was away, Prof. Thoumaian was imprisoned and tortured; his wife campaigned vigorously in London for his release. She succeeded in obtaining the assistance of the Foreign Secretary, Lord Rosebery, and Prof. Thoumaiain was released into exile in England where he and his wife settled in Chigwell. In 1914, Prof. Thoumaian was elected to the Turkish parliament which he attended, although he still lived in England. The Thoumaians continued to campaign on behalf of the Armenian people, in particular refugees, for the rest of their lives, setting up an orphanage for Armenian children at their home in Chigwell. This was succeeded by a women's health centre.
Mme Thoumaian was a passionate advocate of peace and set up her own women's peace group in 1912. She attended the international women's peace congress in the Hague in 1915 but refused to attend a later congress in San Francisco believing the group there were not committed to stopping the war. Lucy Thoumaian went to Washington in 1916 and eventually settled there. Prof. Thoumaian remained in Chigwell with their children until at least 1937.