I Am Cyprus by Annetta Benzar

Author:Annetta Benzar [Benzar, Annetta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789925573226
Google: q23AzQEACAAJ
Publisher: Armida Publications
Published: 2020-11-15T05:26:03+00:00

I am LUSINE

Even though I have never been to Armenia, I feel very Armenian.

‘As a child I grew up in the Piraeus area of Athens, where the port is. It’s a place where there used to be lots of immigrants and Greeks that used to come from areas occupied by Turks like Constantinople and Polis, these areas. We grew up in a very family-like neighbourhood, if I may say that. My parents had brothers and sisters living there so I had many cousins. I grew up in Greece but we were Armenian. But we only spoke Armenian at home. We had all the Armenian traditions and we celebrated Christmas on the sixth of January, which is usually the twenty-fifth in Greek Orthodox tradition. I went to an Armenian primary school and our family ran a Lebanese-Armenian restaurant because my parents were immigrants from Lebanon to Greece during the war in Lebanon (1975-1990). I grew up in that, in food and everything. I was in a very protective environment.

The restaurant was popular at its time. I remember it was the first one in Greece. That is what I remember as a kid, that we used to have lots of actors because actors always like to try new things. So, we used to have known people come. And people would have to travel to come because Piraeus is far from other parts of Greece. They would come a long way to come. I was serving as a kid and I used to get lots of tips because I was like a little girl. I grew up in the restaurant, which has also helped with my character being more social, sleeping with any loud noise, loud music. I did love it.

But there were only Armenian primary schools in Greece. We didn’t have any secondary schools. There was one just a gymnasium and that didn’t really encourage (even though it was Armenian) the Armenian culture and society. My parents decided to send me to Cyprus, which is a school that is (even though all Armenian) very multicultural because all the Armenians are from around the world. It continued my Armenian culture and origin.’

Cyprus has been a home to Armenian nationals since the sixth century. After the death of Leo VI, the last king of Armenia, leadership was inherited by his cousin, James I de Lusignan, who, at that time, was also the king of Cyprus. At his appointment, he became the king of Armenia, Cyprus and Jerusalem. Later, Cyprus served as a centre of refuge for the victims of the Ottoman’s genocide of Armenians, known as the Armenian Holocaust, during the early twentieth century. In its aftermath, brothers Krikor and Garabed Melkonian founded an orphanage in Cyprus’ capital city, Nicosia, for the forsaken children of Armenian descent in Anatolia. The institute became known as the Melkonian Educational Institute. Later, the school also acted as an accredited boarding school for the children of the Armenian diaspora worldwide. With so many children being raised in Cyprus through this school’s system, the Armenian community in Cyprus grew rapidly.

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