Isaac Bakchellian

ISAAC BAKCHELLIAN

Isaac Bakchellian was born in 1890 in the town of Hadjin in Mountainous Cilicia. Escaping the Adana pogroms in 1909, he found refuge in Argentina in 1911, sharing a rented apartment with the Armenians who had suffered the same fate. Sadly enough, his sister and mother had fallen victim to the atrocities before Isaac could help them move to Argentina and the only survivors of those horrendous events found in the Lebanese orphanage were his sister’s children. Initially, starting as an assistant to a tailor, he mastered the craft of tailoring and opened his studio. In 1923, he met Aghavni Bekarian, an immigrant from Constantinople, and married her in 1924. Aghavni was an educated woman fluent in the French language. one of the most influential and active members of the Armenian community in Argentina, Isaac Bakchellian had dedicated all his life to the preservation of Armenian identity. He was an honorary member of the Hadjin Compatriotic Union of the South American Chapter. He was twice elected as a Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Isaac Bakchellian was delegated by the Armenian community of South America to cast the ecumenical vote for Archbishop Cheorekdjian who was elected the Catholicos of All Armenians in the 1945 Patriarchal election. Intending to raise funds for the establishment of Nor Hachn provincial town in Armenia, Isaac Bakchellian embarked on a mission to solicit donations from the Diaspora communities. In 1955, he visited Armenia with his wife to lay the cornerstone of the town’s establishment, while on November 4, 1958, he was among the honorary guests who celebrated the founding of the town of Nor Hachn. Isaac Bakchellian’s contribution to the development of the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Hadjin Dun was instrumental. With his means and efforts, he reopened the once-established Armenian Mesrobian School in the Armenian-populated neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The school was renamed after Isaac Bakchelian in 1962 and is still in operation. As a person of great wealth, he purchased premises and set up a factory, which was subsequently developed by his descendants under the Gatic name. Isaac Bakchellian passed away in 1963. Isaac Bakchelian’s and Aghavni Bekarian’s children are Santiago, Vartuhi (1927-1934), Eduardo, Vartuhi, and Nelida. Eduardo has two children: Edgardo and Fabian and Edgardo has four children: Jazmin, Valentina, Paloma, and Leon. As for Fabian, he has two children- Juan and Azul. Vartuhi has three daughters: Patricia (MBA), Andrea, and Gabriela (lawyer). Patricia has one daughter, Nicole. Andrea has two children: Adik and Maila, while Gabriela has two children: Mauro and Ama. Nelida’s (doctor) four children are Lorena, Maximo, Mariano, and Gonzalo. Maximo has one child, Manuel. Mariano has three children: Mateo, Felipe, and Maximo. Gonzalo (Bachelor in Communicaions) has two daughters: Martina and Catalina.