u/Hayasdan2020

Gregorio Sciltian (1900–1985) was born in Nakhichevan-on-Don, now part of Rostov-on-Don, into an Armenian family. From an early age, he devoted himself to painting. In 1919, following the Russian Revolution, Sciltian left Russia and traveled to Europe via Constantinople and Vienna.

At the end of 1923, Sciltian and his wife, Elena Boberman, settled in Rome. In 1926, Sciltian participated in the Venice Biennale.

From 1927 to 1932, the artist lived in Paris. He was a member of the Armenian artists’ group Ani, founded in 1926, and exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, Salon des Tuileries, and Salon des Indépendants. In 1928, his works were included in an exhibition of Russian art at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

In 1933, following the unsuccessful solo exhibition in Belgium, Sciltian returned to Italy and settled in Milan. In 1940, he was awarded a gold medal at the 7th Milan Triennial. In 1942, he participated in the Venice Biennale.

In the postwar period, Sciltian became one of the artists associated with the Pittori moderni della realtà (“Modern Painters of Reality”), a movement that advocated a return to figurative painting and the traditions of the Old Masters. His work was distinguished by meticulous attention to detail and an illusionistic quality, particularly evident in his still lifes and trompe-l’œil compositions.

Sciltian also worked in theater. During the 1950s, he designed sets and costumes for Italian theaters, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Alongside painting, he wrote about art. His books include Mia avventura, published in 1963, and Trattato sulla pittura, published in 1976 and devoted to the theory of painting.

Works by Gregorio Sciltian are held in museum and private collections, including the National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan.

Germanos Karavangelis (1866-1935) was the Metropolitan of Amasya and Samsun from 1908-1922. He was a first-hand witness to the genocide.

On October 15, 1917, the governor of Amasya ordered him to quit his diocese at once for not handing over Greek deserters. He was subsequently escorted by police to Constantinople where he was imprisoned. He was released the following day after protests from the Patriarchate and influential people on the condition that he not leave Constantinople. He returned to his diocese after the Armistice.

In a letter dated December 29, 1918 addressed to Konstantinos Konstantinidis, president of the Pan-Pontic Council of the Greeks of Pontus, he wrote:

"Towards the middle of December, 1916, began the deportations from Amissos (Samsoun). First of all the army reduced to ashes all the region round about. Nearly all the villages rich in tobacco plantations, civilised, friends of progress and possessing a lively national sentiment, were first pillaged and then set on fire.

"A large number of women and children were killed, the young girls of the nation outraged, and immediately afterwards driven into the interior. Where? Into the vilayet of Angora to Tchoroum, to Soungourlou, and still farther. The winter was of the most rigorous kind; these girls had to march 30 or 40 days across snow-covered mountains and sleep by night in the open. For several days they were without food, for they were not even allowed to buy bread for money; they were continually beaten by the gendarmes and stripped of any money they might have on them; and when they got to the towns they were brutally pushed into the hot public baths on the pretext of hygiene and cleanliness, and just as quickly dragged out. Thus, an easy prey to the rigours of the cold, they were driven on farther. The majority of course died on the road, and none of the dead at all being buried, vultures and dogs feasted on human flesh."

Read more: https://www.greek-genocide.net/index.php/quotes/testimonies/germanos-karavangelis