Glimpses into the ARF Photo Archives: The Gougounian Group

A few of the pictures from the ARF photo archives are particularly eye-catching. Clicking through the images, one cannot help but notice photos like the ones below, for example.

At first, it seems almost comical, as if it was a fad once upon a time for young men to shave the right half of their heads while keeping heavy beards and mustaches. Upon closer inspection, though, one notices a uniformity in what these men wore as well, and facial expressions that do not suggest a willful participation in the proceedings.

The captions and notes on the backs of the photos reveal the secret. These are four participants of the Gougounian Expedition – a tale from the turn of the 20th century worthy of a movie that has more or less gotten lost in the epic history of the Armenian people.

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Glimpses into the ARF Photo Archives: Armenian Legionnaires Immortalized

In this series of brief glimpses into the ARF photo archives, I have tried to share with you thought-provoking, fun or other kinds of take-aways from the collection. This article is about a more specific episode of Armenian history – the Armenian Legion of 1916-1920 and its heroic volunteers, or gamavors.

Originally formed as the Légion d’Orient under French command, the units evolved into the Légion Arménienne serving alongside French and British forces as they fought Ottoman troops at the end of the First World War, moving up the Levant or eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The Western powers took over the Holy Land, Lebanon, Syria and Cilicia thanks to the efforts of the Armenian Legion among their ranks.

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