Antoin Sevruguin
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Antoin Sevruguin (; 1851–1933), known as Antoin Khan (
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
: آنتوان خان) was an Iranian
photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...
of
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
- Georgian descent, in Iran during the reign of the
Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
.


Early life

Born into a
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
family of
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
- Georgian origin in the Russian embassy of
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
: Antoin Sevruguin was one of the many children of Vasily Sevryugin and a Georgian "Ms. Ashin". Vasily Sevryugin (or Vassil de Sevruguin) was a Russian diplomat to Tehran. Achin had raised her children in
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
, Georgia because she was denied her husband's pension. After Vassil died in a horse riding accident Antoin gave up the art form of painting and took up photography to support his family. His brothers Kolia and Emanuel helped him set up a studio in Tehran on Ala al-dawla Street (today Ferdowsi St.).


Career


Practice and themes

Sevruguin often focused on portraying the everyday lives of ordinary people, capturing the rich diversity of Iranian society. His work depicted scenes from lively bazaars and tranquil countryside, along with poignant moments of family life. In addition, Sevruguin's portfolio frequently featured portraits of royalty, nobility, and cultural figures, highlighting the intricate costumes and detailed architectural elements of the time. His ability to seamlessly blend artistic expression with ethnographic documentation rendered his work a valuable historical chronicle and a tribute to the opulent cultural legacy of Iran.


Royalty, nobility, and cultural figures

Many of Antoin's photographs were taken from 1870-1930. Because Sevruguin spoke
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
as well as other languages, he was capable of communicating with different social strata and tribes from his country Iran. His photos of the royal court,
harems A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
, mosques, and other religious monuments were compared to those of other Western photographers in Iran. The reigning Shah,
Nasir al-Din Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...
(reigned from 1846–1896) took a special interest in photography, and many royal buildings and events were portrayed by Sevruguin.


Landscape photography

Because Antoin Sevruguin traveled extensively around Qajar Iran, his photographs provide a vital visual record of the country as it existed in his time. His journeys allowed him to capture a wide array of images that document the diverse landscapes, architecture, and daily life of pre-modernized Tehran and beyond. Sevruguin's photographs offer a glimpse into an era before significant modernization transformed the city and its surroundings. His images include detailed depictions of monuments, bridges, and landscapes that have since undergone considerable change. Through his lens, we can observe the intricate designs of historic structures, the traditional attire of the people, and the natural beauty of the Iranian countryside, all of which contribute to a deeper understanding of Iran's cultural and historical heritage during the late Qajar era.


Ethnographical photography

Some of Sevruguin's portraitures fed preexisting stereotypes of Easterners but had commercial value, and today, they are proven to be historical records of regional dress. Photographic studios in the nineteenth century advertised a type of picture known in French as "types". These were portraits of typical ethnic groups and their occupation. They informed the European viewer, unfamiliar with
Persian culture The culture of Iran () or culture of PersiaYarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) is one of the oldest and among the most influential in the world. Iran (Persia) is widely regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.
, about the looks of regional dress, handcraft,
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, and professions. Photographing regional costumes was an accepted method of ethnological research in the nineteenth century. Many European ethnological museums bought Sevruguin portraiture to complement their scientific collection. Museums collected pictures of merchants in the bazaar, members of a Zurkhana (a wrestling arena), dervishes, gatherings of crowds to see the
Ta'zieh Ta'zieh (; ; ) means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. It comes from the roots ''aza'' (عزو and عزى) which mean mourning. It commonly refers to passion plays about the Battle of Karbala and its prior and subsequent events. S ...
(Iranian dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Shite Imams), people engaged in Shiite rituals, and more. Sevruguin's portraits were also spread as postcards with the text: 'Types persans' ( French for Persian types). Sevruguin was a photographer who had no boundaries in portraying people of all social classes and ethnic backgrounds. He portrayed members of the Iranian royal family as well as beggars, fellow countrymen of Iran or Westerners, farmers working fields, rug weavers at work, army officers, religious officials, Zoroastrians,
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
,
Lurs The Lurs, Lors or Luris () are an Iranian people living in western and southern Iran. The four Luri branches are the Bakhtiari, Mamasani, Kohgiluyeh and Lur proper, who are principally linked by the Luri language. Lorestan province is name ...
,
Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...
,
Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
, Shasavan,
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
, and Gilak.


Sevruguin's Studio

Many Westerners who lived in Iran and travelers who visited the country brought back photographs from Antoin Sevruguin, often mentioning him in their travelogues of the time. Sevruguin's photographic studio, located on Avenue Ala al-Dawla, was one among several photographic studios on that street. Local residents could have their pictures taken in his studio, often posing in front of a painted backdrop. Most photographs were captured as glass negatives and printed as albumen prints. These prints frequently featured a logo with Sevruguin's name on one side. However, many 19th-century tourists found his name challenging to spell in Western languages, leading to various misspellings such as Sevraguine, Sevrugin, Sevriogin, Segruvian, and Serunian. Phonetically, his name was spelled "Sevr-joe-gien."


Vandalism

In 1908 the world was denied the rich collection of Sevruguin's images when
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (reigned from 1907–1909) inadvertently bombed his store in suppression of Zahiru’d-Dawla, the
constitutionalist Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...
Governor of
Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...
. His house along with the whole street was burned. Up to that point, Antoin had seven thousand plus photographs. Only two thousand were salvaged. As the photographs depicted numerous figures associated with the former Qajar regime and showed "conditions far removed from his own notions of a modern westernized nation",
Reza Shah Pahlavi Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...
(reigned from 1925–1941) confiscated the remaining images.


Legacy

After his death from a kidney infection, Sevruguin's images resurfaced. He was survived by seven children from his marriage to Louise Gourgenian. In 1951–1952, an American historian of Iranian Islamic architecture, Myron Bement Smith, learned that 692 plates on glass by Sevrugian were up for sale at the American Presbyterian Mission in Tehran. Smith bought the images for USD 200, and when he died, his widow Katharine Smith donated the photo plates archive to the Smithsonian Institution. Only 696 of Sevruguin's negatives survive today. The small exhibit curated by Massumeh Farhad, "Antoin Sevruguin and the Persian Image" (2001) was held at the
Sackler Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
of Harvard University. The Runa Islam exhibition "Projects 95: Runa Islam" (2011) at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
(MoMA) featured the work "Emergence" (2011), that had been derived from one of Sevruguin's images.


Gallery

File:Bettler in Teheran Sevruguin 02.jpg, A
beggar Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...
in Tehran File:Nasseraldinshah3.png,
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...
on the steps of the
Sun Throne The Sun Throne () also known as the Peacock Throne () is an Imperial throne of Iran. A radiant sun disk on its headboard and a consort of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar give the throne each of its names respectively. The throne has the shape of a platform ...
File:Antoin Sevruguin 1 kurdish woman.jpg,
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...
woman, National Museum of Ethnology in
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, Netherlands File:Brooklyn Museum - Two Ladies and a Child Reposing in the Harem - Antoin Sevruguin.jpg, Two Ladies and a Child Reposing in the
Harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
,
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
File:Kosagovski.jpg, Vladimir Kossogovsky, commander of the
Persian Cossack Brigade The Persian Cossack Brigade, also known as the Iranian Cossack Brigade (), was a Cossacks, Cossack-style cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Qajar Iran, Iran. It was modelled after the Caucasian Cossack regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. Until 1 ...
. Pictured in 1900, Tehran. File:Antoin Sevruguin zoorkhaneh2.jpg,
Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name inscribed by UNESCO for Warzesh-e pahlavāni (, "heroic sport") or Warzeŝe Bāstāni (; , "ancient sport"), a traditional system of athletics and a form of martial arts originally used to train wa ...
File:Brooklyn Museum - Girl Adorned in Silver Jewelry - Antoin Sevruguin.jpg, ''Girl Adorned in Silver Jewelry'' File:Antoin Sevruguin 7 Men with live lion.jpg, Men with a live lion in Iran. File:Reza Shah Pahlavi as Minister of War by Antoin Sevruguin.jpg,
Reza Khan Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...
(later Reza Shah) as Qajar Iran's War Minister File:Arthur Churchill Bailward by Antoin V. Sevruguin.jpg, File:Antoin Sevruguin Nasseraldinshah2.jpg,
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...
File:Antoin Sevruguin Nezamalmolk.jpg, Niẓām al-Mulk File:Antoin Sevruguin dervish2.jpg, Dervish


References


Sources

* L.A. Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, Gillian M.Vogelsang-Eastwood (eds.), ''Sevruguin's Iran / Iran az negah Sevruguin, Late nineteenth century photographs of Iran from the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, Netherlands'', Teheran/Rotterdam 1378/1999. * Bohrer, Frederick N., ED. Sevruguin and the Persian Image. London: University of Washington Press, 1999. * Iraj Afshar, ‘Some remarks on the early history of photography in Iran’ in ''Qajar Iran; political, social and cultural change, 1800-1925'', E.Bosworth, C. Hillenbrand (eds.), Edinburgh 1983, pp. 262–2. * Iraj Afshar, ''Ganjine-ye aks-haye Iran. hamrah-e tarikhche-ye vorud-e akkasi be Iran, A treasury of early Iranian Photographs together with a concise account of how photography was first introduced in Iran'', Teheran 1371/1992.
Exhibition of Antoin Sevruguin's PhotographsArchived
2009-10-25) at geocities.com
Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs

Stephen Arpee Collection of Sevruguin Photographs


Further reading

* *


External links


Sevruguin's Images of the Orient: Cultural Migrants Between Armenia and Persia

Antoin Sevruguin Photographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., U.S.A.Antoin Sevruguin photographs of Persia, 1880s-1890s
Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".
, Los Angeles. Accession No. 2017.R.25. The 97 photographs in this collection are representative of Antoin Sevruguin's all-encompassing documentation of Persia, and comprise a mixture of studio portraits, outdoor vernacular scenes, and landscapes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sevruguin, Antoin 1851 births 1933 deaths Ethnic Armenian photographers 19th-century Armenian photographers Iranian photographers Iranian people of Georgian descent Iranian people of Russian descent Persian Armenians Photographers from Tehran People of Qajar Iran Burials at Doulab Cemetery