Arousyak Papazian ( hy, Արուսեակ Փափազեան, 1841–1907) was an

Ottoman Armenian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equaliz ...

actress. She is counted as the first professional female actor in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and thereby the Middle East.

Life

Arousyak Papazian was born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, in 1841. Before becoming an actress, she worked as a teacher. In the 1850s, the modern theatre was founded in the Ottoman Empire by an Armenian theatre company, and Papazian was reportedly the first female actor to perform in the Hekimian theatre company in 1857. She was engaged at the Arevelian Tatron (Oriental Theater) and she also toured with the company, such as to Izmir in 1867. As Muslims did not consider acting a suitable profession, the first actors in the Ottoman Empire were Christian Armenians, and the stigma of the profession was especially the case for females, the actresses received a higher salary than their male colleagues, and they could also continue their careers undisturbed after the Armenian theatre monopoly was abolished in the Ottoman Empire in 1879; after this point, male Armenian actors found competition from Muslim Turkish male actors, while no Muslim Turkish female actor ever performed on stage before 1919. Arousyak Papazian became the first leading lady and female star of the Ottoman theatre and received considerable praise. She and her colleague Aghavni Papazian are mentioned by the historian

Mikael Nalbandian Mikayel Nalbandian ( hy, Միքայել Նալբանդյան; ) was a Russian-Armenian writer, poet, political theorist and activist. Nalbandian was born in Nakhichevan-on-Don, an Armenian town in southern Russia, and traveled extensively, al ...

as two pioneers in defying prejudices by performing on stage in the Muslim Middle East. As such, they became publicly visible women in the Muslim Ottoman Empire in a period when the female members of the audience had to watch their plays from behind screens. Arousyak Papazian retired after her marriage because of her spouse was opposed to her theatrical career. She died in Constantinople in 1907.

References

Duygu Köksal, Anastasia Falierou: ''A Social History of Late Ottoman Women: New Perspectives''

''Women in the Ottoman Empire''; by Eric R. Dursteler, Oxford Reference Online
1841 births 1907 deaths 19th-century actresses from the Ottoman Empire Ethnic Armenian actresses Armenians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century Armenian actors Stage actresses from the Ottoman Empire Place of birth missing {{Armenia-actor-stub

Life

See also

References