Breaking the ethnic barrier is never an easy thing, especially with names like Der Hakopian and Zabounian in a country like Sweden where a mere lock of black hair not too long ago was enough to identify a person as a "foreigner". But Pierre Der Hakopian, renowned architect and diplomat, and Kevork Zabounian, an acclaimed painter, have done more than integrate into Swedish society, thanks not only to their talents, but also hard work and perseverance which have made them icons in their respective fields.
As if by coincidence, they both took their first steps into Swedish society nearly 42 years ago, but it took 20 years for the two men to meet due to the lack of communication between the country's handful of Armenians the vanguards of a community which has now grown in numbers. Der Hakopian was already an established architect who was at the peak of his career when he left Syria with his Swedish wife to make Goteborg his home while Zabounian, immigrating from
Lebanon, discovered his lifelong vocation in Sweden. Born in 1927 in the Syrian Mediterranean port city of Latakia, Der Hakopian studied at the French University in Beirut, Lebanon and the Ecole Superieured' Architecture in Paris, France, from where he graduated with honors in 1953.
Thanks to his uncle, Hrant Bey Mal- oyan, a general in the Syrian army during the French Mandate, Der Hakopian got his first job and career break as chief engineer for the Emir of Kuwait.
"I traveled from Beirut on to Baghdad and then to Kuwait in 1954 with a few hundred pounds in my pocket and a letter of recommendation from my uncle to the Emir. It was during the summer and it was hot. The cash I had was just enough money for two nights at the only air conditioned hotel in Kuwait. I stayed at that hotel because 1 was sure I would get a job with the letter of recommendation 1 had in my pocket," Der Hakopian said in retrospect.
Kuwait was a young state at the time, and the oil boom was just starting. The Emir needed an official Palace, and the job of building it was given to Der Hakopian without hesitation.
"I could not believe my eyes. Here I was, fresh out of university, not only having a great and well paying job, but also a car, a driver and a place to stay at the Emir's Palace," Der Hakopian said. But he also had a problem. His Swedish wife was unable to join him and had to stay behind with his parents in Damascus, Syria. "Not a great life for a young family," Der Hakopian thought.
With only six months into the job, he decided to return to Damascus to be with his wife. His uncle's old connections were once again called to the rescue. This time the assignment was in Damascus itself, and the job was to design and build the main pavilion and other structures for the Damascus Fair grounds, which still exists to this day and is visited by thousands of people every year.
"It was a huge project and involved leading a large group of architects, contractors and engineers. We finished in record time and within budget and for that I was given a special award by the Syrian government headed by Hashem Al Attasi," Der Hakopian said.
Upon completion of the Damascus Fair project, and the fame that came with it, Pierre moved to Beirut with his wife to join the architectural firm of the Abdel Baki brothers, an already established and prestigious firm which had many famous structures under its belt. In the few years that he worked with the Abdel Baki group, Der Hakopian served as chief architect on such major projects as the construction of two ornate royal palaces in Saudi Arabia and a summer villa for the Saudi royal family in the Lebanese mountain resort town of Aley.
Then came the 1958 civil unrest in Lebanon. Der Hakopian does not say what triggered his departure from Lebanon that same year, but rather describes his move to Sweden as a coincidence. "I had enough of a portfolio to help me find work soon after I arrived in Sweden with my wife in 1958. I started with a company which was building a hospital," he said.
That was his original project, the first in a string of major architectural works which later in his career concen trated on the design and construction of churches across Sweden. In all, Der Hakopian has designed a dozen churches in Stockholm and a num ber of other towns and cities across the country. He has received many prestigious awards for his work and is considered to be one of the leading architects of the country.
Always an am bitious man, Der Hakopian is also the Consul General of the African Republic of Gabon, a diplomatic post he received thanks to an old friend from his student days in Paris President Omar Bongo of Gabon.
"I met (President) Bongo when we were both studying in Paris in 1950. It was at a cafeteria on Boulevard de Cour- celle," Der Hakopian said. "Who could believe that many years later my friend would become the President, and appoint me as Consul in Sweden." Today, Der Hakopian, the architect diplomat, is the only representative of the Republic of Gabon in Sweden a position he has held for the past 17 years. He is also the first Armenian member of the prestigious order of The Knights of Malta, a title he has held for more than 30 years and passed on to him from his maternal great grandfather's side.
Retired and his eyesight failing due to glaucoma, Der Hakopian, now devotes his spare time to Armenian community affairs and serves on the Armenian community council of Goteborg.
"I was the second Armenian when I came here in 1958. Now there are several hundred and the community is getting more active and organized. It is still difficult for newcomers to infiltrate Swedish society, but it can be done. Education and integration are the keys to success," he said.
In Stockholm, painter Kevork Zabounian agrees. Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1933, Zabounian moved to Cairo, attended the Noubarian school and later studied art at the Zorian Academy before packing his belongings and heading to Beirut, Lebanon to work for an advertising agency and then to Sweden in 1958 the same year Der Hakopian moved to Goteborg.
"I was 24 years old when I came here. A total unknown. I did not know the language...nothing," he said at a meeting in his apartment in Stockholm. "I studied design for three years and began painting. After graduation, I started working and teaching at the same time, married a Swedish woman and made Stockholm my home and Sweden my country."
Zabounian integrated into Swedish society, and had little or no contact with other Armenians. His world was that of the arts, and his social life revolved around his Swedish friends.
"It was a lonely world, but one I chose for myself. The life of an artist, I suppose," he said. But Sweden discovered Zabounian and made him part of itself.
His paintings, for which he has become famous, depict the beaches and landscape of Gotland, the most favored island of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and the thousands of Swedes who visit its beaches in the short months of summer. "Maybe Gotland reminded me of the beaches of Alexandria.... I don't know," he says.
Whatever the reason, Zabounian's water colors and graphic works of the Gotland landscape have made him famous. He has regularly exhibited his works, which are sold for thousands of US dollars, across Sweden and several European capitals.
"I made a conscious decision to integrate, not to stay on the fringes of Swedish society, but to be part of it. I did not change my name and never lost my identity," he said.
Both Der Hakopian and Zabounian have broken the barriers of ethnicity, setting an example for the younger generation as to what a Swedish Armenian will be in the coming decades of the year 2000. '
