The Armenian community of Sweden as we know it today may be young in years, but its ties with this Scandinavian country go as far back as the 10th century AD. According to a Swedish legend dating from the 10th century, a navigator by the name of Petrus was so enchanted by the beauty of an Armenian princess, that he travelled to Armenia and married her.
Traces of the Armenian influence are seen in many Swedish literary works and research documents, especially in the Middle Ages. Historians believe that the Swedes borrowed the art of needlework from the Armenians along with some musical tunes during that era.
In the old Swedish language, there is a mention of the word "erik", which means husband in both Swedish and Armenian. The same is true to a certain extent in architecture, especially in the familiarities that exist between the old Armenian khatchkars (stone crosses) and some of the ancient stone engravings found in Sweden.
Some Swedish archeologists often go as far as making a direct link between some of the old jewelry excavated in Sweden to their Armenian origins, and particularly ancient villages in Armenia.
But despite the repeated references to things Armenian, there is little or no mention of any real and continuous Armenian presence in Sweden until the 18th century when better documentation has helped catalogue the ties between Armenians and this Scandinavian country.
Swedish traveler Matson Kipping describes the Armenians as "very famous for their chastity, faithfulness and sincerity to all men." Another famous Swede, a physician, botanist and traveler by the name of Frederick Hassel Quist, in a book published in Stockholm in 1757, was full of praise of the Armenians he had met on his journeys to Jerusalem.
Apart from these individual contacts, a group of Armenians from Turkey accompanied Swedish King Karl XII to Sweden in 1714 and stayed on and assimilated into the Swedish society over the years.
It is also a historical fact that many Armenians were employed by the Swedish Embassy in Ottoman Turkey. Among those are Paris University graduate Hagop Tchamichoglu (Tchamichian) who served in the Swedish Embassy in Constantinople in the early 1700's and Hov- hannes Mouradgian who held a key position as interpreter at the same Embassy in the mid 1700's.
Notes and documents written by Mouradgian, detailing his activities, are presently kept in the library of Uppsala University and are frequently used as reference material by Swedish researchers. One of his early documents, written in French, carries a footnote in Armenian, authenticating its origins.
Over the years, the Mouradgian family—a name which was later changed to Mouradgea d'Ohsson apparently to make it sound more Swedish became closely associated with Swedish diplomatic life in the Ottoman Empire. The senior Mouradgian's son and grandson, Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson and Abraham Constantin d'Ohsson, are well known by Swedish historians. Both Catholic Armenians, they served in key diplomatic posts for many years.
Ignatius d'Ohsson began his diplomatic career at the Swedish Embassy in Constantinople in 1763, was promoted to the rank of charge d'affaires in 1795, and later head of the diplomatic missiona post which he kept until 1799.
During his tenure, he wrote a number of important books on the history, religion and customs of the Ottoman Empire. One of the books, which took 20 years to complete and consisted of two massive volumes, was first published in French and later translated into German, English and Russian. A third volume was completed just before the author's death and was later published by his son, Abraham Constantin d'Ohsson who had already followed his father's footsteps in diplomacy and research.
Abraham Constantin, who was educated in France, served in the Swedish diplomatic corps and at various times was posted in Spain, Holland and Germany. He died in Berlin in 1851. Like his father, the young Abraham Constantin was also involved in historical research, but his forte was Mongolian studies a field in which he is still considered by many Swedish historians as a leader and prime authority. His major work, History of the Mongols, based on Arab, Persian and Turkish primary sources, includes several chapters on the Mongol rule over Armenia.
A man with diverse interests, Abraham C onstantin (1779-1851) completed his education at Uppsala University in Sweden, studying Swedish literature, history, mythology and culture. He graduated in 1798. From 1805 to 1834, Abraham Constantin, besides holding a number of key diplomatic posts including that of Cabinet Secretary of Sweden's Crown prince, worked closely with famous Swedish scientist John Berzelius and became an honorary member of the Scientific Union of Uppsala in recognition for his research in chemistry. But the Mouradgea d'Ohssons,
Who were decorated by the royal family and given their own coat of arms in appreciation of their work, were not the only people involved in the Swedish diplomatic life. Jean Anastasia, an Armenian merchant from Damascus, served as Swedish Consul General in Egypt from 1828 to 1857. Paul Serphino (Sarafian) held a similarly important post at the Swedish Embassy in Constantinople.
The trend continued over many decades. Ohan Demirjian, the son of Stepan Bey Demirjian who served as the Foreign Minister of Egypt from 1844- 1853 and was instrumental in the opening of the Suez Canal, established close ties with the Swedish royal family.
Demirjian, who settled in Sweden and was granted citizenship in 1867, is well known in Swedish academic circles as the author of two books on the commercial relations and contacts between European countries of the era and the Orient. According to recent research, Demirjian built a small chapel on the outskirts of Stockholm. The building still stands and architects familiar with Armenian church structures are convinced that its interior style, especially its arches and altarlike section, is very close to that seen in Armenian churches worldwide. Presently a group of young Armenians are actively involved in efforts to restore the structure to its original state and even its use as an Armenian chapel. The list of Armenians associated with Swedish academic and political life is as long as that of Swedes who were involved with Armenian affairs. Henrich Brenner (1669-1732), a Swedish philosopher and diplomat from Uppsala, translated from Armenian sections of Movses Khorenatsi's fifth century book The History of Armenia. Another Swedish scholar and theologian from Uppsala Olav Celsi (1670-1756) not only wrote extensively about the history of the Armenian church, including the works of Khorenatsi and Nersess Shnorhali—12th century scholar and Catholicos at Holy Etchmiadzin—but also the structures of the Armenian church hierarchy.
Maybe it was this interest in Armenian religious institutions and history that attracted Swedish missionaries to Armenia.
The first Swedish missionaries to appear on the Armenian scene were Lars Erik Hogberg and N.F. Hoijer who visited the Transcaucasus in 1886. They were followed over the years by many others like Elin Anna Charlotta Sundvall (1853-1921) who worked for 30 years in Etchmiadzin, Yerevan, Shushi and other Armenian towns and villages, and Alma Johansson (1881-1974). Armenians gather at Johansson's gravesite at Stockholm's main cemetery once a year for memorial services in appreciation of her work with Armenian orphans of the 1915 Genocide.
Reports by other missionaries appeared in Swedish publications, thus keeping the Swedish people aware of the hardships facing the Armenians, especially at the end of the 19th century and during 1915-1923 when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred at the hands of Ottoman Turks.
With a growing Armenian presence, the Swedish interest in things Armenian has not faded.
