Gabriel Noradunkyan
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Gabriel (Kapriel) Efendi Noradunkyan (, ; 6 November 1852
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
- 1936
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was an
Ottoman Armenian Armenians were a significant minority in the Ottoman Empire. They belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, or the Armenian Protestant Church, each church serving as the basis of a millet. They played a ...
statesman and bureaucrat. He served as the Minister of Trade in 1908 and
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
from July 22, 1912 to January 23, 1913 during the reign of
Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a Constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarch. He had ...
and the prime ministership of
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha Ahmed Muhtar Pasha (;‎ 1 November 1839 – 21 January 1919) was a prominent Ottoman field marshal and Grand Vizier, who served in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as Grand Vizier in July 1912 at age 72, ...
and
Kâmil Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha (; , "Mehmed Kâmil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kâmil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman Anglophile statesman and liberal politician of Turkish Cypriot origin in the late-19th-century and early-20th ...
.


Life and career

Gabriel Noradunkyan was born in the
Selamsız Selamsız is a quarter in Üsküdar district on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. It corresponds more or less to the current officially recognized neighborhoods of Selamiali and Muratreis. These neighborhoods are bounded on the north by Sulta ...
neighborhood of the
Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...
district of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
on 6 November 1852. He was the son of Krikor Noradunkyan, a local bread maker to the Imperial Palace. His family originated from the village of Agn (today
Kemaliye Kemaliye, formerly Eğin (, meaning "spring"), is a town in Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kemaliye District.Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...
. Having received his elementary education at home, Gabriel Noradunkyan attended the local St. Joseph's French High School in the
Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...
district where he graduated from in 1869. In 1870, after graduating from
Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut (; French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', commonly known as USJ) is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Go ...
, Noradunkyan continued his education in Law and Political Science at
Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
in Paris. While in Paris, Noradunkyan also studied at the
Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
and furthered his studies in Political Science at the
Ecole des Sciences Politiques Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
. He returned to Istanbul in 1875 and became a professor of law at the ''Mekteb-i Hukuk-ı Şahane''. He was then appointed by
Mahmud Nedim Pasha Mahmud Nedim Pasha () was an Ottoman conservative statesman of ethnic Georgian background,Buṭrus Abū Mannah (2001), ''Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, 1826-1876'', p. 163. Isis Press, who served as Grand Vizier o ...
to be secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1877, he served as a negotiator within the commissions established by the Ottoman and Russian governments during and after the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...
. In 1883, Noradunkyan became a legal consultant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He would remain in this post for twenty-nine years. An active member of the Armenian community, he became the chairman of the
Armenian National Assembly The Armenian National Assembly was the governing body of the Armenian millet in the Ottoman Empire, established by the Armenian National Constitution of 1863. Elections Tax paying members of the Armenian Gregorian church were given suffrage ...
in 1894. Noradunkyan published the ''Recueil d'actes internationaux de l'empire Ottoman'', a four volume compilation of Ottoman treaties with neighboring European countries translated into French. After the
Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...
in August 1908, Noradunkyan was appointed at the Minister of Trade. Meanwhile, in December of that year, he was elected as a member of the newly formed
Senate of the Ottoman Empire The Senate of the Ottoman Empire (, or ; ; lit. "Assembly of Notables"; ) was the upper house of the parliament of the Ottoman Empire, the General Assembly. Its members were appointed notables in the Ottoman government who, along with the electe ...
. Noradunkyan served his post as Minister of Trade until January 1910. Nordaunkyan then became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ottoman Empire from July 22, 1912 to January 23, 1913 during the reign of
Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a Constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarch. He had ...
and the prime ministership of
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha Ahmed Muhtar Pasha (;‎ 1 November 1839 – 21 January 1919) was a prominent Ottoman field marshal and Grand Vizier, who served in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as Grand Vizier in July 1912 at age 72, ...
and
Kâmil Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha (; , "Mehmed Kâmil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kâmil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman Anglophile statesman and liberal politician of Turkish Cypriot origin in the late-19th-century and early-20th ...
. He moved to Europe in 1915 and he was the head of the Armenian National Committee representing the Armenians in Lausanne. After moving to Europe, Gabriel Noradunkyan's properties in Istanbul were confiscated. Noradunkyan was an ardent supporter of the establishment of an independent Armenian state in Anatolia. After the
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...
was signed, he moved to Paris, France where he was the head of a variety of Armenian aid organizations. He became the vice-president of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Õ€Õ¡ÕµÕ¯Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Ô²Õ¡Ö€Õ¥Õ£Õ¸Ö€Õ®Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Ô¸Õ¶Õ¤Õ°Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸Ö‚Ö€ Õ„Õ«Õ¸Ö‚Õ©ÕµÕ¸Ö‚Õ¶, Õ€Ô²Ô¸Õ„, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or ,''Hay Parekordzagan Enthanour Miyutyun'' or ...
. Noradunkyan died in Paris in 1936. Prior to his death, he dictated his biography, but only fragments of it has survived. He knew Ottoman Turkish, Armenian, Italian, French, and English.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noradunkyan, Gabriel 1852 births 1936 deaths Politicians from Istanbul Ministers of foreign affairs of the Ottoman Empire Politicians from the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire Armenian politicians Armenians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century civil servants from the Ottoman Empire University of Paris alumni Sciences Po alumni People from Üsküdar Saint Joseph University alumni St. Joseph High School Istanbul alumni