Tomenable
04-09-2016, 10:17 PM
Armenians were, next to Jews, another numerous minority of "Oriental" origin in the Old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
They were much more prone to assimilation than Jews, so I suppose that many Poles today carry some Armenian ancestry (I even know some who do, I will list them below). Throughout history, there were at least four major waves of Armenian immigration to Poland:
The first influx started in years 1045-1062 (after the conquest of Armenia by Seljuq Turks) and continued also after the 11th century at a slower pace (they were coming via Crimea, Bessarabia and Don River region) - those first immigrants settled mostly in Halychna and Podolia, areas which became parts of Poland in the 14th century. By 1630 Armenians fully integrated with Polish Catholic culture, which made assimilation and intermarriage much easier than in case of Polish Jews. Armenians who were descended from the first wave of immigrants became Polonized and melted into Polish people during the 17th century. The 2nd wave of Armenian migrants came in the 18th century from Moldavia and Wallachia - those became Polonized by the 1800s. The third wave came as refugees after the Armenian Genocide. It wasn't very numerous (several thousand people). Armenians from the third wave became acculturated and integrated during the 20th century (since nobody exterminated them, as it happened to Jews). After the end of WW2, 99% of Armenians in what used to be Eastern Poland moved westward, and only 1% stayed in the Soviet Union. Despite Polonization, many Armenians managed to preserve their traditions, customs and memory about ancestors.
Finally, the last, most recent wave of Armenian immigrants came to Poland after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
There have been a lot of Poles - including many prominent people (see the list below) - of at least partial Armenian descent:
Juliusz Słowacki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliusz_Słowacki) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via maternal grandmother)
Zbigniew Herbert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Herbert) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via maternal grandmother)
Krzysztof Penderecki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Penderecki) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via paternal grandmother)
Jerzy Kawalerowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kawalerowicz) (some paternal ancestry from Armenian Kavalarian family)
Robert Makłowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Isakowicz-Zaleski) (up to 1/8 Armenian - via one great-grandmother)
Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Isakowicz-Zaleski) (1/2 Armenian via mother)
Maja Bohosiewicz (http://www.eastnews.pl/en/groups/index/id/58346/section/stock/phrase/maja%20gajkowska) (some paternal ancestry from Armenian Poghosyan family)
Sonia Bohosiewicz (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1338476/) (sister of Maja Bohosiewicz)
And yet some more people, in case of whom I haven't found info on how much of Armenian ancestry do (or did) they have:
Teodor Axentowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodor_Axentowicz) (painter)
Ignacy Łukasiewicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Łukasiewicz) (inventor, petroleum industry pioneer)
Karol Mikuli (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol_Mikuli) (musician)
Anna Dymna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Dymna) (actress, philanthropist)
Szymon Szymonowic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szymon_Szymonowic) (poet)
Jakub Paschalis-Jakubowicz (enterpreneur)
Ignacy Nikorowicz (writer)
Ewa Stolzman-Kotlarczyk (actress)
Izaak Mikołaj Isakowicz (philanthropist, patriotic activist)
Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lechoń) (poet & diplomat)
Łukasz Abgarowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Łukasz_Abgarowicz) (politician)
Wojciech Mojzesowicz (politician)
Vahan Gevorgyan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahan_Gevorgyan) (Armenian-born footballer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-MJw-7xtI
They were much more prone to assimilation than Jews, so I suppose that many Poles today carry some Armenian ancestry (I even know some who do, I will list them below). Throughout history, there were at least four major waves of Armenian immigration to Poland:
The first influx started in years 1045-1062 (after the conquest of Armenia by Seljuq Turks) and continued also after the 11th century at a slower pace (they were coming via Crimea, Bessarabia and Don River region) - those first immigrants settled mostly in Halychna and Podolia, areas which became parts of Poland in the 14th century. By 1630 Armenians fully integrated with Polish Catholic culture, which made assimilation and intermarriage much easier than in case of Polish Jews. Armenians who were descended from the first wave of immigrants became Polonized and melted into Polish people during the 17th century. The 2nd wave of Armenian migrants came in the 18th century from Moldavia and Wallachia - those became Polonized by the 1800s. The third wave came as refugees after the Armenian Genocide. It wasn't very numerous (several thousand people). Armenians from the third wave became acculturated and integrated during the 20th century (since nobody exterminated them, as it happened to Jews). After the end of WW2, 99% of Armenians in what used to be Eastern Poland moved westward, and only 1% stayed in the Soviet Union. Despite Polonization, many Armenians managed to preserve their traditions, customs and memory about ancestors.
Finally, the last, most recent wave of Armenian immigrants came to Poland after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
There have been a lot of Poles - including many prominent people (see the list below) - of at least partial Armenian descent:
Juliusz Słowacki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliusz_Słowacki) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via maternal grandmother)
Zbigniew Herbert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Herbert) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via maternal grandmother)
Krzysztof Penderecki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Penderecki) (up to 1/4 Armenian - via paternal grandmother)
Jerzy Kawalerowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kawalerowicz) (some paternal ancestry from Armenian Kavalarian family)
Robert Makłowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Isakowicz-Zaleski) (up to 1/8 Armenian - via one great-grandmother)
Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Isakowicz-Zaleski) (1/2 Armenian via mother)
Maja Bohosiewicz (http://www.eastnews.pl/en/groups/index/id/58346/section/stock/phrase/maja%20gajkowska) (some paternal ancestry from Armenian Poghosyan family)
Sonia Bohosiewicz (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1338476/) (sister of Maja Bohosiewicz)
And yet some more people, in case of whom I haven't found info on how much of Armenian ancestry do (or did) they have:
Teodor Axentowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodor_Axentowicz) (painter)
Ignacy Łukasiewicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Łukasiewicz) (inventor, petroleum industry pioneer)
Karol Mikuli (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol_Mikuli) (musician)
Anna Dymna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Dymna) (actress, philanthropist)
Szymon Szymonowic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szymon_Szymonowic) (poet)
Jakub Paschalis-Jakubowicz (enterpreneur)
Ignacy Nikorowicz (writer)
Ewa Stolzman-Kotlarczyk (actress)
Izaak Mikołaj Isakowicz (philanthropist, patriotic activist)
Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lechoń) (poet & diplomat)
Łukasz Abgarowicz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Łukasz_Abgarowicz) (politician)
Wojciech Mojzesowicz (politician)
Vahan Gevorgyan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahan_Gevorgyan) (Armenian-born footballer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-MJw-7xtI