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The original was posted on /r/armenia by /u/HAMBORGHlNI on 2024-09-10 20:43:23+00:00.

I have read a translation of an article* about the history of Armenians in Izmir, by French-Armenian historian Anahide Ter Minassian. Here are some highlights, in case anyone is interested:

• Armenians in Izmir are first mentioned in a Byzantine-Genoese trade treaty in 1261
• An Armenian chapel and cemetery in Izmir are mentioned again in 1380
• Beginning from the 16th century, the Armenian community thrives thanks to silk and fabric trade between Iran and Europe
• Armenian traders function as the point of contact for Europeans who are only allowed to operate in a few Ottoman ports
• Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, more Armenians from Iran, Nakhichevan and Anatolia settle in Izmir either to make money or to escape persecution
• Izmir becomes the main Ottoman export hub in the 1700s, and the second most important city of the empire in the 1800s
• Some of the most powerful merchant families of this period are: Yusufyans, Kuyumcuyans, Ispartaliyans, Avedikyans, Bakirciyans, Yesayans, Balözyans, Elmasyans etc.
• Sultan Abdulmajid sends two court architects to rebuild the Armenian quarter after it gets damaged by a fire in 1845. Several European nations also donate funds
• The majority of Armenians are members of the Armenian Apostolic church, but a Catholic millet (converted by French, Italian and Austrian religious orders) and a Protestant millet (converted by American missionaries) also exist
• The Surp Mesrob college receives a printing press in the 1830s, sparking an era of renaissance: over 30 Armenian language periodicals are published in Izmir between 1840-1922. French classics and religious texts are translated into Armenian and published alongside works in Turkish and Ladino language. Izmir is dubbed “the Armenian Athens”
• By 1914, the population of Izmir reaches 300,000 with 6,000-12,000 ethnic Armenians
• Armenian civilians are mostly spared from the “mass deportations” of 1915-1916 thanks to German general Liman von Sanders (who insists that the deportations and arrests are damaging military operations and he will not tolerate them)
• The Armenian quarter of Izmir, Haynots, is completely destroyed in the great fire of 1922 soon after Greek forces evacuate the city
• Scattered survivors end up in Greece, Egypt, Soviet Armenia, France and also South America

*Source of article: “İzmir Ermenileri: Küçük Bir Cemaatin Dinamizmi”, in: Anahide Ter Minassian, Ermeni Kültürü ve Modernleşme: Şehir, Oyun, Mizah, Aile, Dil, 2006, pp. 11-32

*The original French source: “Les Arméniens: le dynamisme d’une petite communauté”, in: Marie-Carmen Smyrnelis (ed.) Smyrne, la ville oublieé 1830-1930, 2006, pp. 79-91