Diana Abgar

Diana Abgar (Armenian: Դիանա Աբգար, 12 October 1859 – July 8, 1937) was an Armenian writer, diplomat, and ambassador to Japan of the short-lived First Republic of Armenia in 1918-1920. She is the first Armenian woman diplomat and possibly the first woman to have ever been appointed in any diplomatic post.

Life

Diana Anahit Aghabekyan, whose baptismal name was Gayane, was born in Rangoon, British Burma (today Yangon, Myanmar) on 12 October 1859. Her father was an Indian-Armenian who migrated to South East Asia from New Julfa, Persia. Diana Abgar's mother Avet was from the Tateos Avetum family in the Shiraz district of Iran. Diana was the youngest of seven children in the family. Abgar was raised in Calcutta and received her education in a local convent school. Diana Abgar became fluent in English, Armenian, and Hindustani. She married Apcar Michael Apcar, a descendant of the house of Abgar of New Julfa, the same area where Abgar's family the Aghabekyan's originates from as well. The Abgar family became successful tradesmen and merchants all around South-East Asia. They became especially successful in the import-export business of shellac lacquer pearls. In 1891, Diana and her husband moved to Japan to found and expand the family business. They eventually had 5 children, of which only 3 survived. At the age of sixty-seven, Abgar was experiencing numerous physical problems, such as failing eyesight, hearing loss, and arthritis. These health issues led to her death on the morning of 8 July 1937 in Yokohama. She was buried in cemetery for foreigners beside her husband and is currently being taken care of by the Society of Armenian-Japanese Friendship which is based in Tokyo.

Diplomatic career

When the Republic of Armenia gained independence on 28 May 1918, Armenia was not recognized by any international state. Yet in 1920, through Apgar's efforts, Japan became one of the first nations to recognize the new republic's independence. Out of respect to her efforts, Hamo Ohanjanyan, who was then the Foreign Minister of the Republic, granted Diana Abgar Honorary Counsel to Japan. This made Diana Abgar the first Armenian woman diplomat and quite possibly the first woman to have ever been appointed in any diplomatic post in the century. However, after Armenia's Sovietization in the 1920s, her post was abruptly terminated.