Bloodied, But Unbowed: A Memoir of the Ashur & Arshaluys Yousuf Family

by Alice Nazarian, Ishkhan Jinbashian (Translator), Arda Darakjian Clark (Editor)

Overview

In this memoir, author Alice Nazarian tells the story of her parents and family in the shadow of the Armenian/Assyrian Genocide. Her father, Ashur Yousuf, a prominent Assyrian intellectual and professor at Euphrates College in Kharpert, Turkey, became a victim of the Genocide in 1915. Her mother, Arshaluys Yousuf, heroically struggled on after her husband’s death, raising their six children while helping educate countless young children in orphanages and schools in the Middle East.

The memoir comprises a narrative of the turbulent life of Arshaluys and a section devoted to writings by and about Ashur Yousuf. This English translation, while faithful to the original Armenian, contains some new material and an updated genealogy of the descendants of Ashur and Arshaluys Yousuf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789198410198
Publisher:	Nineveh Press
Publication date:	11/22/2018
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Author Alice Nazarian was the fifth child of Ashur and Arshaluys Yousuf. In addition to this memoir, she wrote numerous articles, poems, and lectures. She was well-known in Aleppo, Syria, as an educator and director of plays. Having lived most of her life in Aleppo, she immigrated to the United States in 1967. She died in Los Angeles in 1976.

Ishkhan Jinbashian is a literary translator. His works include translations of novels, poetry, and memoirs by Hagop Oshagan, Shahan Shahnur, Zareh Vorbuni, Yeghishe Charents, Mikayel Shamtanchian, Armen Anush, and Aram Sahakian. Jinbashian lives in Los Angeles.

Editor Arda Darakjian Clark is the granddaughter of author Alice Nazarian. She has worked as a technical writer and editor and has written two educational books for young students.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the English Translation i

Foreword to the English Translation  v

Author’s Preface vii

Foreword iv

PART I —The Journey of Arshaluys Yousuf 1

Arshaluys Yousuf: Biographical Notes 3

The Ruined Hut 7

The Chill of Death 2

From Terror to Life 5

A Brute’s Disappointment 8

A Lion on the Run 3

An Unexpected Blow 6

The Labyrinth of Hope 0

Coincidence 4

Courage Prevails 8

A Horrific Sight 2

A Great Disappointment 9

One More Tree Was Felled 4

Toward Hope 6

A Brush with Death 8

Farewell, Kharpert 1

A Ghostly Encounter 5

Fortune Smiles 8

A Foamy Wave 0

A Splinter of Pain 2

A Page from My Teenage Woes 5

A Business Initiative 01

A Snake in the Grass 04

A New Life in Homs 18

A Fateful Acquaintance 20

A Broken Promise 47

My Mother’s Commandments 52

Nurturing Hope and Optimism 58

Hut or Mansion? 60

My Brother’s Marriage 63

A Daughter Inherits Her Mother’s Fate 66

Maro, Beloved Daughter and Sister 71

A Dreadful Dream 74

Omens 77

The Warning 80

The Vanishing of Happiness 82

The Irreparable Loss 91

Return of the Lioness 94

To the Iron Curtain 96

A Poignant Scene 99

Separation 00

Their Destinies Converged 02

Last Hopes Smothered 06

Of Resilience and Verve 08

A Son’s Tale 14

Part II—A Tribute to My Father, Ashur Yousuf 21

Editor’s Introduction 23

Author’s Introduction 25

A Brief History of My Father’s Family 27

Biography of Abraham Yousuf 55

Mourning a Great Loss 57

Ashur Yousuf—Obituary, Tributes, and Odes 60

Obituary 61

Ashur S. Yousuf 62

Ashur Effendi S. Yousuf 66

The Assyrian Tiger 69

The Greatest Loss 72

It is Well To Mourn for a Good and Patriotic Man 75

He Died, But His Memory Lives On 79

The Immortal Assyrian “Actor” 81

The Ignoble Night 84

In Memoriam: Ashur S. Yousuf 89

Prof. Ashur Yousuf of Harpoot 92

Ode—Untitled 93

An Ode to My Teacher, Ashur Yousuf 94

Ashur Yousuf 95

Ode—Untitled 96

Ode to Ashur Effendi S. Yousuf 97

Ashur Yousuf’s Poetry—Written in Armenian 98

Ashur Yousuf’s Poetry—Written in Turkish 06

Ashur Yousuf’s Prose Writings 12

What Is Behind the Cultural Stagnation of the Assyrians? 13

Some Means for the Eradication of Alcoholism 18

Make the Home Attractive 24

Murshid Athuriyon 28

Letters from Arshaluys Yousuf 30

Letter One—To the Assyrian Five Association 31

Letter Two—To an Unidentified Friend 34

A Dream of a Long Journey 36

APPENDICES 53

Descendants of Ashur and Arshaluys Yousuf 55

Endnotes 99

Editorial Reviews

“This publication is more than just a family memoir. It deals with an extraordinary mixed Armenian and Assyrian family with roots in Harput (now re-named Elazığ) in Turkey from the late nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century. Basically, it tells the story about a family’s survival in times of massacres, war, genocide and uncertain life in post-World War I exile in Lebanon, Syria and Soviet Armenia.” • David Gaunt, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden

“The horrors that Seyfo (genocide) brought are described in a new book about the Assyrian national hero Ashur Yousuf and his widow Arshaluys. It is a poignant story of a family’s tragic destiny and a testimony of the strong will and sacrifice that Arshaluys Yousuf demonstrated during her 80 years. At the same time, it depicts the attempts to eradicate the area’s two indigenous peoples, Assyrians and Armenians.” • Augin Kurt Haninke (AINA)

“Ashur Yousuf (1858–1915) is a legend among Assyrian nationalists. He was one of the first Assyrian intellectuals to embrace the idea of a unified Assyrian people that would transcend denominational divisions. As a victim of the Ottoman genocide, he is honored as a martyr. Yousuf was a teacher at Euphrates College in Kharpert and married to an Armenian woman, Arshaluys. In 1965, their daughter Alice Nazarian published a book in Armenian about her parents which has been translated into English and is now published together with some other material by an Assyrian publisher. It is an interesting story well worth reading.” • Svante Lundgren, Lund University, Lund, Sweden (The Armenian Weekly)

From the Publisher