A portrait of the Tutuian family one year before the Armenian genocide, 1914. L-R: Arsenic, Elmas (Arlene’s grandmother), Berjouhi (Arlene's mother), Hampartzum (Arlene's grandfather who was taken into the Turkish Army and disappeared), and Ashot (who was taken to a concentration camp for Armenian boys to be Turkified and rescued by Elmas). Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
A portrait of Arlene Avakian with her parents Berjouhi (mother) and Vaghinak (father) Avakian. Photo Credit: Ashjian/NYC. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
A family portrait of Arlene Avakian with her grandmother Elmas Tutuian, 1939. Photo Credit: Ashjian/NYC. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene’s wedding portrait, 1961. Photo credit: Ashjian. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
A childhood portrait of Arlene’s children, Leah and Neal Avakian, circa 1964. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Daughter Leah Avakian and Arlene Avakian during her “young motherhood”, circa 1966. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
L-R: Arlene Avakian, Leah Avakian (daughter), and Martha (partner) posing after Leah’s graduation from Smith College, Northampton, MA. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
A portrait of Arlene Avakian and her partner Martha for their 15th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene Avakian and her son Neal on Arlene and Martha’s 15th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Martha (partner) and Neal Avakian (son) on Arlene and Martha’s 15th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
L-R: Martha (partner), Neal Avakian (son), Lena (Martha's mother), Arlene Avakian, and Leah Avakian (daughter) on Christmas, West Virginia. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene and her partner Martha before a reading of Susan Hill’s “Through the Kitchen Window” at the Arthur & Elizabeth Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene at a reading and signing of “Lion Woman's Legacy: An Armenian-American Memoir”, circa 1992. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene and her partner Martha on “one of their many trips” to Istanbul. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene’s cousin Nektar glancing at the images in her book. Arlene shares, “My grandmother stayed with Nektar’s family when she took a trip back to Istanbul. Nektar was a teenager and loved my grandmother. I met her for the first time in 2015. Sadly, she died before my book was translated into Turkish.” Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Arlene holding opening the pages of Aros, an Armenian newspaper printed in Istanbul. She shares, “They published an article I wrote about my visit to Kastomonu, the place where my grandparents lived and raised their family until my grandfather was taken into the army and never heard from again and then my grandmother and her children were forced out of their homes and into another town.” Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
Ayse Gul Altinay (a colleague and dear friend) and Arlene Avakian pointing to the poster for the Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop, 2009. Atlinay invited Arlene to the event. Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
L-R: Co-authors Fethiye Çetin, Ayşe Gül Altınay, and Arlene Avakian. Arlene shares, “We worked on a book together which we hope will be out soon in Turkish and English. The book is called: ‘Mirroring Lives Across the Armenian Turkish Divide: Conversations on Gender, Race and Genocide.’” Photo courtesy of Arlene Avakian.
