Yervant Voskan

Bust of Osman Hamdi Bey by Yervant Voskan

Yervant Voskan, also known as Osgan Efendi (Armenian Երվանդ Ոսկան) (1855 in Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey – 1914) was a famed Ottoman painter, sculptor, instructor, and administrator of Armenian descent.[1] He is considered the first sculptor of Turkey.[2][3]

Life

Yervant Voskan was born in 1855 in Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey, son of writer Hagop Voskan (1825 - 1907), and grandson of Voskan Gotogyan of Erzurum who was a foundryman at the Imperial Mint.[3] After receiving his primary education from his father, he attended the Catholic Armenian Makruhyan School in Besiktas. In 1866 he went to Venice to study at the Murad Raphaelian School. He began teaching sculpture in the academy on March 1, 1883.[1] At the time, he was the only professor of sculpture in the Ottoman Empire.[2][3] He along with Osman Hamdi Bey conducted the first scientific based archaeological in the history of the Ottoman Empire. His archeological research included the Commagene tomb-sanctuary in Nemrut Dağı in southeastern Anatolia and the Alexander Sarcophagus in Sidon.[4] He was the chief restorer of the Sarcophagus.[3] Yervant Voskan eventually retired from the academy in 1908 and died only 6 years later.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 F. Ozturk, Nancy (2005). Eyüp Sultan symposia I - VIII : Selected Articles. Istanbul: Municipality of Eyüp, Directorate of Culture and Tourism. p. 112. ISBN 9789759384494. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Renda, Günsel; Kortepeter, C. Max (1986). The Transformation of Turkish culture : The Atatürk Legacy. Princeton, N.J.: Kingston Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780940670105. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kurkman, Garo (2004). Armenian painters in the Ottoman Empire 1600-1923. İstanbul: Matüsalem Publications. ISBN 9789759201555. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Özdoğan, Günay Göksu (2009). Türkiye'de Ermeniler : cemaat, birey, yurttaş (in Turkish) (1. Edition ed.). Şişli, İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları. p. 99. ISBN 9786053990956. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  5. ↑ Kasaba, edited by Reşat (2008). Turkey in the modern world (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 427. ISBN 9780521620963. Retrieved 28 November 2012.