The Armenian General Benevolent Union celebrates its centenary this week. Inas Mazhar consults with the institution's Egypt President Berdj Terzian, finding out about history, culture and lifestyle The centennial celebrations of the AGBU kicked off yesterday at the Armenian Embassy in Cairo. With over 300 Armenians from all over the world invited, according to Berdj Terzian, president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU-Egypt), the occasion provides for social, cultural and educational events. Before all else, perhaps, it is an opportunity to reconfirm Egypt's long history of support for Armenians and the Armenian diaspora; Egypt was in fact the first Arab country to embrace the Armenian state, instituting full-scale diplomatic relations with Yerevan and even sponsoring training programmes for young Armenian officials. Highlights of the centennial programme include a seminar on Armenian Education and Language Teaching, focussing on the role of language in the survival of identity and discussing issues like the status of Western Armenian, and the use of Armenian in education, conversation and entertainment -- an aim for which the relevant organisations are mobilising by, among other means, instituting training programmes for teachers. The celebrations also feature an exhibition of over 60 books on display, which are all Satenig Chaker fund-supported AGBU publications. Real fun won't start until Sunday evening, however, with such Armenian stars as the Vienna-based soprano Hasmik Papain and the Paris-based pianist Vardan Mamikonian performing at the Gomhuriya Theatre. "The famous Armenian singer Nune Yesayan and her band," Terzian explained, "have come all the way from Armenia to entertain the guests; and they will perform too. All over the world, Nune Yessayan's concerts are always sold out weeks in advance..." Among the programme's better known venues is the Hmen Nubar Club in Heliopolis, a relaxing space with plenty of greenery. "The club dates back to 1933," Terzian revealed, "when the AGBU, the better to serve young Armenians in the Egyptian capital, had built the Nubar club in the neighbourhood of Shoubra." Led by Hayg Djizmedjian, a founding member of the Istanbul Hmen Club, the venue united with the AGBU to become the Hmen Nubar in the late 1940s, the AGBU bought the land from Boghos Nubar's heirs in 1956, after which it became the principal AGBU base. It remains among the Armenian community's favourite institutions. Besides the illustrious Hmen Nubar, centennial celebrations will also take place in Alexandria, the home of many Armenians at the start of the 18th century, thanks in large part to the work of such community leaders as Boghos Bey Yusufian (1768-1844), Nubar Pasha (1825-1899), the aforementioned Boghos's father, and Kevork Topalian (1850-1923). As Terzian puts it, "For over a century the church-school combination has provided the necessary manpower to sustain cultural and social clubs and their affiliated political organisations. The infrastructure of the Armenian community in Alexandria, even though it was relatively small, remains intact."
