Reception at the Embassy of Armenia in Japan honoring descendants of First Armenian Ambassador To Japan Ms. Diana Agabeg Abgar

19 October, 2010

On October 18 the Armenian Embassy in Japan organized a reception dedicated to Diana Abgar, who was Armenia's first Ambassador to Japan in the period of 1920-1921.

Attending the reception were the Abcar's grandson Michael Apcar and great-granddaughter Denis Apcar.

A day earlier, together with Armenia's charge in Japan Arsen Arakelyan they traveled to Yokohama, where Amb. Apcar is buried, to mark the 141st anniversary of her birth.

The reception covered by Japan's leading NHK television channel and Asahi Shimbun daily was attended by members of the Japan-Armenia friendship society.

A champion for Armenia

Abcar's heirs remembered the stories of their grandmother, including efforts to help Armenians escaping from the Genocide, some of whom came as far as Japan.

Michael Apcar and his daughter Denis granted the embassy documents from their family archive, including the July 22 1920 original letter from Armenia's then foreign minister Hamo Ohanjanyan.

The letter expressed appreciation to Abcar "for defending the interests of the newly-born Fatherland, and mitigating the conditions of our compatriots" and formally appointed Diana Abcar to represent Armenia's interests in Japan, making her Armenia's first-ever female ambassador.

(By way of comparison, U.S. admitted a first female into diplomatic service in 1922 and appointed its first female chief of mission abroad in 1933.

Incidentally, Armenia has so far had only two female ambassadors since re-gaining independence in 1991.

Karine Ghazinyan led embassies in Romania and then Germany before being appointed deputy foreign minister last year.

And the late Sevda Sevan was ambassador to Bulgaria between 1994 and 2005.)

A child of Diaspora

Born Anahit Agabeg(ian)in 1859 in Rangoon, Myanmar (Burma) to a large Armenian family with roots in Iran she married Armenian merchant Mikael Apcar (Abgar) in 1889 in Hong Kong and the two moved to Japan soon after.

Although far removed from the Armenian homeland physically, Abcar dedicated much of her life to writing about the plight of Armenians at the time.

Her books, pamphlets and articles, included "Betrayed Armenia" in 1910, "Peace and No Peace" in 1912 and "Armenia Crucified" in 1918.

Her final manuscript "From the Book of One Thousand Tales, Stories of Armenia and its People, 1892-1922" was published by granddaughter Lucille Apcar in 2004.

She passed away in 1937, still engrossed in Armenian issues.

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