Shekerdemian

MESROB SHEKERDEMIAN
Mesrob Shekerdemian was a second Company Commander. He fought against the Turks to protect Hadjin and its surrounding villages from the Turkish army and the massacres that ensued. He organized groups of volunteers from Hadjin to defend themselves from the Turkish and Kurdish brigades and looters whose aim was to annihilate Armenians from Hadjin. Sadly, Mesrob’s parents and two sisters were brutally killed while Mesrob managed to survive and made his way to Cyprus, where he started a new life. Mesrob Shekerdemian had three sons, Kaloust, Hadjen, and Vahe.
YERVANT SHEKERDEMIAN
Yervant Shekerdemian also survived the massacre with the help of a Turkish family who knew Yervant’s father, Kaloust Shekerdemian, a very successful businessperson in Hadjin. To survive, Yervant remained in Hadjin and became the family’s shepherd. Meanwhile, in Cyrpus, Mesrob received a message that his brother was still alive, and with the help of some of his friends in Hadjin, Yervant managed to escape to Cyprus and eventually Mesrob and Yervant reunited there. Yervant Shekerdemian has two sons, Koko and Hrant. In 1960, they relocated to the United Kingdom. Koko is married to Rosamund and has two children: James Yervant and Emma, and two grandchildren: Nicolas and Christina. Hrant and Loretta Shekerdemian have two children, Marcia Anna Maria (a highly ranked lawyer) and Lara Sevanne (a doctor, and professor), and grandchildren: Leo, Roland, Higgs, Perdita, Anoosh, Max, and Leo.
ZAVEN SHEKERDEMIAN
Zaven Shekerdemian was about eight years old at the time of the tragic events when Turkish soldiers came to Zaven’s house and forced him, his parents, and two aunts, to vacate their house and walk towards the St. Hagop Church, with all of the other Armenian men, women and children of Hadjin. Once they arrived at the church, the men were separated from the women and children and Zaven never saw his father again. Zaven witnessed the massacres of the women and children of Hadjin by Turkish soldiers. When Zaven’s turn came, Turkish soldiers threw him up in the air and shot him. The shot was not deadly: the bullet had gone through his left shoulder and come out of the other side. He woke up amongst all the dead bodies when he heard noises and realized that two more children were alive, a girl and a boy, who were of a similar age. They helped each other by mixing earth with water to make mud to cover their wounds and managed to get away together. The three children kept themselves safe until a Turkish family in Hadjin, who had known his father Kaloust Shekerdemian, learned that Zaven was alive. They took Zaven in to protect him from the Turkish soldiers and made him their servant. They were a large family and had many servants, all by the name of Ali. They called Zaven “Gavour Ali,” meaning “infidel.” For three years, Zaven looked after the family’s young children and animals. During this time, Zaven spoke only Turkish and forgot his mother tongue.After three years, Mesrob received a message through his business associates (Mesrob had become a successful merchant in Cyprus) that his youngest brother Zaven was alive. It took a while for Zaven to reach Beirut, Lebanon safely, where he had been placed in an orphanage. However, Mesrob wanted Zaven to be with him and eventually, three brothers, Mesrob, Yervant, and Zaven, reunited in Cyprus. By then, Zaven was about 12 years old and could not speak Armenian. He studied at the Armenian school in Cyprus with five-year-olds. As Zaven was tall, he sat right at the back of the classroom and earned the name ‘Big Boy.’ In 1973, the Hadjentsi survivors of the Armenian Genocide from the Armenian Diaspora were invited to Nor Hachn, Armenia, to be present at the commemoration ceremony. Zaven Shekerdemian married to Marie Zartarian. They have three children: a son Manoug and two daughters, Takouhi Silva and Vartoug, and three grandchildren: Tamar Fyne (BA in Philosophy and Economics, University College London, England); Shant Pourian (BA, MSc in Development Project Real Estate from Reading University, England), Alex Pourian (BA in Hospitality Management from Surrey University, England). Since 1964, the family has lived in the United Kingdom. Zaven Shekerdemian died in 1988. The descendants of Mesrob, Yervant, and Zaven Shekerdemian are honored and very proud to belong to the Shekerdemian family.