Digitisation of the Armeno-Turkish Collections of the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna
Yavuz Köse (University of Vienna) and Jeanette Kılıccı (University of Vienna)
A short history of the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna
The Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna, established in 1811, is a repository of diverse cultural heritage. It offers insights into the history of the Armenians, the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, not only through the monastery complex but also through its invaluable collection of over 2,600 Armenian manuscripts, 150,000 books and the world’s largest collection of Armenian newspapers and periodicals (Inglisian 1961, Arat 1990, Kodjanian 2012, Babikian 2017).
The Congregation’s library also contains a significant number of manuscripts, prints and newspapers in Turkish written and printed in Armenian script between the late 17th and 20th centuries. The foundation stone for this rich collection was laid by Mekhitar of Sebaste (Sivas) (1676-1749), who founded the congregation in Constantinople in 1701 (Aslanian 2016, Zekiyan 2017). Subsequently, he was compelled to flee the Ottoman Empire to evade persecution and established his monastery in Methoni (Peloponnese), which at the time was under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. Following the fall of Methoni to the Ottoman Sultan and the subsequent destruction of the monastery in 1717, Mekhitar of Sebaste relocated with his order to the island of San Lazzaro (degli Armeni) near Venice. He remained there until his death in 1749, during which time he was recognised as a highly esteemed scholar and publicist (Arakelian and Yevadian, 2017). In 1727, he published a grammar of modern Armenian, which is regarded as the earliest printed work in the Turkish language to be produced in Armenian script (Ter Minassian 1998, Aslanian 2016, Strauss 2018).
A schism within the order resulted in the departure of several members from the motherhouse in Venice in 1773, who proceeded to settle in Trieste. Empress Maria Theresa (reigned 1740-1780) incorporated the monks, who henceforth referred to themselves as “Mekhitarists”, into her “Orient policy” and granted them the right to settle in the Habsburg Empire in 1775. The Mekhitarists were granted a monastery, a church, and a school. The congregation was permitted to accept priests, novices, clerics and lay brothers, lead missions and open branches in the Habsburg Empire as well as in the Near and Middle East. The congregation was granted the right to operate a printing press with Armenian and Latin letters (Mayer 1887, Arat 1990, Tragut 1995, Denscher 2009, 2012, Kodjanian 2012).
Following the fall of Trieste to France in 1809, Francis I, the founder of the Austrian Empire (reigned 1804-1835), granted the Mekhitarists asylum in Vienna in 1810, thereby confirming their previous privileges. In 1811, a new printing press was established in a newly constructed building, the former Capuchin monastery, which had been destroyed by the Ottomans during the siege of the city in 1683 and subsequently rebuilt in 1684 following the successful defence (Kasper 1961, Tragut 1995, Denscher 2009, 2012).
The Mekhitarist fathers played a significant role in what has been termed the “Armenian Renaissance of the 19th century” or Armenian awakening (Zart’ōnk’) (Zekiyan 1999, Bardakjian 2000, Hajikyan 2005, Semerdjian and Bivins 2013, Der Matossian 2020). This was achieved through their engagement in a range of endeavours, including the publication of classical Armenian literature and the publication of the Armenian Bible. The Mekhitarist fathers engaged in a variety of endeavours, including the publication of classical Armenian texts, the preservation of the classical Armenian language, the research and study of Armenian history, the translation of texts from and into Armenian, the provision of education in their network of Mkchitaristic schools, and the collection of ancient manuscripts. Vienna became a hub of academic inquiry, particularly within the philological disciplines, where the majority of nineteenth-century Mekhitarist fathers originated from Istanbul (Kodjanián 2012, Strauss 2018, Der Matossioan 2020). Furthermore, they played a pivotal role in the education of numerous young intellectuals, including Vartan Pasha and Hovhannes Hisarian, who would go on to spearhead the literary movement, the press, the associations and the political activity of Ottoman Armenians (Strauss 2003, 44). The foundation for this line of inquiry was the Mekhitarists’ library, which amassed a substantial collection of both ancient and modern printed books (Aslanian 2016).
Armeno-Turkish Manuscripts, Prints and Newspapers
Today the rich collection of the Congregation’s library contains a considerable number of manuscripts, prints and newspapers in Turkish, written and printed in Armenian script between the late 17th and 20th centuries. (Aslanian 2016, Zekiyan 2017). The Armeno-Turkish newspapers represent a significant aspect of the cultural heritage of Ottoman Armenians. Editors and authors from various communities, including Apostolic, Protestant and Catholic, contributed to this rich print culture (Uygur 2021, Der Matossian 2020). Despite their historical importance, these holdings have not yet been thoroughly researched.
A preliminary investigation of the collection of Armeno-Turkish manuscripts in the Mekhitarist Congregation has revealed at least 62 manuscripts from the late seventeenth up to the nineteenth centuries. Around 50 of these are either only in Armeno Turkish or Armeno Turkish and Armenian and 12 are in Armeno Kipchak. An initial survey of the condition of the manuscripts revealed their poor condition due to ink corrosion, which means that some of these texts will soon be lost, if they are not treated. The majority of the corpus consists of Armeno-Turkish books stored in the Congregation, amounting to more than 700 volumes printed between the late eighteenth and the early twentieth centuries. Yet, a random examination has shown that the library most likely contains more Armeno-Turkish manuscripts and books. A second investigation revealed another 174 printed books belonging to the Armeno-Turkish corpus. With this we have so far been able to identify 874 Armeno-Turkish printed books.[1] Besides having the world’s largest collection of Armenian newspapers, the Mekhitarist Library stores a considerable number Armeno-Turkish newspapers and periodicals from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the major publications of the Tanzimat-period (1839-1876) (Stepanyan 2005, Aprahamyan 2011). The only in-depth study of the Ottoman Armenian press to date is Kubra Uygur’s dissertation (2021), revealing its diversity and the different opinions of its journalists, showing the large readership of Armeno-Turkish newspapers among the Muslim Ottomans (Strauss 2005, Uygur 2021). This finding is taken up by the studies of Masayuki Ueno (2016) and Murat Cankara (2015, 2018).
To address this gap and acknowledge the significant role of the Mekhitharists in Ottoman Turkish textual production, it is essential to study these texts from both a diachronic and synchronic perspective in order to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of their historical context (Balta 2010). A project is currently being undertaken as part of the Cluster of Excellence “EurAsian Transformations” (https://mekhitar.univie.ac.at/). The project acknowledges the contributions of the Mekhitarists to the Armenian Renaissance in Vienna, which facilitated the intellectual growth of prominent figures such as Hovsep Vartanian (Strauss 2018, Der Matossian 2019). Pioneering works such as the first study on Armeno-Turkish by Friedrich von Kraelitz-Greifenhorst (1912), who became the inaugural full professor of Turkish Studies at the University of Vienna in 1923/24, and Adreas Tietzes (1991), the most significant Viennese Turkologist, emphasise the historical affinity of the project through their seminal contributions. The project is based on these works and employs digital humanities methodologies to enhance accessibility and provide crucial primary sources for research into the history of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and in the diaspora.
Currently, 51 Armeno-Turkish titles of the Mekhitharist Congregation, comprising approximately 165,000 pages, are being digitised with the assistance of the Congregation’s Fathers and students at the University of Vienna who are proficient in Armenian and Turkish. This project has only scratched the surface of this extensive collection, with the aim to create a foundation for further and fruitful research. The next step will be to digitise the Armeno-Turkish manuscripts and books.
[1] Haig Berberian estimated that more than 700 Armeno-Turkish titles are in Vienna and the same number in the Mekhitarist Congregation in Venice. Berberian 1964, 809.
Bibliography
Arat, S. Mari Kristin. 1990. Die Wiener Mechitharisten. Armenische Mönche in der Diaspora. Wien, Köln: Böhlau.
Arakelian, Roy, Maxime Yevadian. 2017. “Présence arménienne à Venise”, in Jubilé de l’ordre des Pèresmékhitaristes. Tricentenaire de la maison mère, l’Abbaye de Saint-Lazare 1717-2017, ed. by Bernard Outtier and Maxime K. Yevadian, 27-34. Paris: Sources d’Arménie.
Aslanian, Sebouh D. 2016. “‘Prepared in the Language of the Hagarites’: Abbot Mkhitar’s 1727 Armeno-Turkish Grammar of Modern Western Armenian”, Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 25: 54-86.
Babikian, Simon. 2017. “L’Ordre des Pères mékhitaristes de Vienne”, in Jubilé de l’ordre des Pères mékhitaristes.Tricentenaire de la maison mère, l’Abbaye de Saint-Lazare 1717-2017, ed. by Bernard Outtier and Maxime K. Yevadian, 81-94. Paris: Sources d’Arménie.
Balta, Evangelia. 2010. “Introduction: Cries and Whispers in Karamanlidika Books Before the Doom of Silence”, in Cries and Whispers in Karamanlidika Books. Proceeding of the First International Conference on Karamanlidika Studies (Nicosia, 11-13 September 2008), ed. by Evangelia Balta and Matthias Kappler, 7-18. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.
Bardakjian, Kevork B. 2000. A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature, 1500-1920. With an Introductory History. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Der Matossian, Bedross. 2020. “The Development of Armeno-Turkish (Hayatar T‘rk‘erēn) in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire: Marking and Crossing Ethnoreligious Boundaries,” Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 8: 1-34.
Cankara, Murat. 2015. “Çifte Maduniyet, Çifte İşlev: Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Basında Dil ve Kimlik”, İlef Dergisi 2 (2): 105-130.
Cankara, Murat. 2018. “Armeno-Turkish Writing and the Question of Hybridity”, in An Armenian Mediterranean. Words and Worlds in Motion, ed. by Kathry Babayan, and Michael Pifer, 173-192. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Denscher, Barbara. 2009. “Eine Brücke zwischen den Kulturen des Orients und des Okzidents. Die Geschichte der Wiener Mechitaristen-Druckerei”, in Buch- und Provenienzforschung: Festschrift für Murray G. Hall zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. by Gerhard Renner, Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler and Christian Gastgeber, 43-63. Wien: Praesens-Verlag.
Denscher, Barbara. 2012. “Die Mechitaristen-Druckerei in Wien”, in Symposion 200 Jahre Mechitaristen in Wien, 10. und 11. September 2011, ed. by Mechitaristen-Congragation, 55-62. Wien.
Hacikyan, Agop J. et al. (eds.). 2005. The Heritage of Armenian Literature Volume III: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times. 3 Vols. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Inglisian, Vahan, Hundertfünfzig Jahre Mechitaristen in Wien (1811-1961). Wien 1961.
Kasper, Robert E. 1961. Hundertfünfzig Jahre Mechitaristen-Druckerei 1811-1961. Wien: Mechitaristen-Buchdruckerei.
Kodjanian, P. Paulus. 2012. “Die Wiener Mechitaristen. Ein historischer Überblick”, in Symposion200 Jahre Mechitaristen in Wien, 10. und 11. September 2011, ed. by Mechitaristen-Congragation. 21-30. Wien.
Kraelitz-Greifenhorst, Friedrich von. 1912. Studien zum Armenisch-Türkischen: Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften Band: 168. Band, 3. Abhandlung. Wien: Hölder.
Mayer, Anton. 1887. Die Mechitharisten-Buchdruckerei (1881-1874). Wien: Frick.
Semerdjian, E. and A. Bivins. 2013. The Real Mekhitarist Contribution and the Nature of Armenian Identity. NEHC 24450.
Strauss, Johann. 2018. “Préface”, in Vartanian Hovsèp, L’histoire d’Akabi: le premier roman turc (1851), écrit en ottoman avec des caractères arméniens. Traduit et présenté par Haïk Der Haroutiounian; préface de Johann Strauss. [Paris] : Société des études arméniennes, 2018, IX-XVII.
Strauss, Johann. 2005. “‘Kütüp ve Resail-i Mevkute’. Printing and publishing in a multi-ethnic society”, in Late Ottoman Society. The Intellectual Legacy, ed. by Elizabeth Özdalga, 227-255. London: Routledge.
Strauss, Johann. 2003. “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries)?”, Arabic Middle Eastern Literature 6/1: 39-76.
Ter Minassian, Anahide. 1998. “Enjeux d’une politique de reconquête linguistique: les Arméniens dans l’Empire Ottoman (1853-1914)” in: Langues et pouvoirs de l’Afrique du Nord à l’Extrême Orient., ed. by Salem Chaker, 151-167. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud.
Tietze, Andreas. 1991. Akabi Hikayesi: İlk Türkçe Roman. Istanbul: Eren Yayınları.
Tragut, Jasmine. 1995. Armenier in Österreich. Katalog zur Ausstellung an der Universitätsbibliothek der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, 6. November – Mitte Dezember 1995. Graz: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft.
Ueno, Masayuki. 2016. “One Script, Two Languages: Garabed Panosian and His Armeno-Turkish Newspapers in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire”. Middle Eastern Studies 52, No. 4: 605-622.
Uygur, Kubra. 2021. “Understanding a Hybrid Print Media and its Influence on Public Opinion: The Case of Armeno-Turkish Periodicals Press in the Ottoman Empire, 1850-1875” (unpl. diss., University of Birmingham).
Zekiyan, Levon Boghos. 2017. “L’abbé Mékhitar de Sébaste”, in Jubilé de l’ordre des Pères mékhitaristes. Tricentenaire de la maison mère, l’Abbaye de Saint-Lazare 1717-2017, ed. by Bernard Outtier and Maxime K. Yevadian, 37-46. Paris: Sources d’Arménie.
Zekiyan, Levon Boghos. 1999. The Armenian Way to Modernity. Armenian identity between tradition and innovation, specificity and universality: an inquiry into the impact of the modern world on Armenian society from the Renaissance through Enlightenment up to the genocidal catastrophe of 1915. Venezia: Supernova.