49 Facts About Mihran Mesrobian

Mihran Mesrobian was an Armenian-American architect whose career spanned over fifty years and in several countries.

Mihran Mesrobian participated in the Gallipoli Campaign and served in the Eastern front against the Russians during the Caucasus Campaign and the Arabs during the Arab Revolt.

Mihran Mesrobian lost fifteen members of his family as a result of the genocide.

Mihran Mesrobian was held captive under the Arabs but was ultimately freed with the help of T E Lawrence.

Mihran Mesrobian immigrated to the United States in 1921 and became a prominent architect in the Washington, DC area.

Mihran Mesrobian became the primary in-house architect for Washington developer Harry Wardman.

Mihran Mesrobian was born 10 May 1889 in Afyonkarahisar, Ottoman Empire to Gaspar and Miriam, an Armenian family of merchants.

The Mihran Mesrobian family had lived in Afyonkarahisar for generations and were involved in the opium and cereal trade.

Mihran Mesrobian attended the local Sahakian Armenian school which provided education aligned with European standards.

At a young age, Mihran Mesrobian was already proficient in drawing and sketching.

Already a skilled drawer, Mihran Mesrobian did exceptionally well in the exams and was then placed in second-year of courses, instead of the beginning first-year.

However, the firm turned out to be unsuccessful and Mihran Mesrobian subsequently moved to Smyrna.

Mihran Mesrobian designed numerous buildings including one hotel, eight houses, one warehouse, one market containing sixty-four stores, one bank, and a club house.

Mihran Mesrobian formulated a 1100-acre topographical map of Smyrna that charted 1615 lots of the city.

Mihran Mesrobian designed the layouts of several farmhouses and built canals to help expand irrigation in and around the city.

However, it is believed that many of the buildings designed by Mihran Mesrobian were destroyed due to the Great Fire of Smyrna of 1922, with the exception of the hotel built in 1912.

Mihran Mesrobian remained in Smyrna until 1912, when he returned to Constantinople.

In Constantinople, Mesrobian was appointed as chief architect to the palace of the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed V Throughout his career as a chief architect to the Sultan, he was tasked to draft the restorations of some thirty Ottoman Palaces, including the famous Dolmabahce Palace.

Mihran Mesrobian was employed as the chief architect of the restoration.

At this point of his career, Mihran Mesrobian became a well-known figure for his work.

Mihran Mesrobian took a break from his duties as an architect and returned to Smyrna to marry Zabelle Martmanian, an Armenian woman he had met while living in Smyrna.

When Mihran Mesrobian was drafted into the Ottoman army during World War I, his career as an architect was interrupted.

Mihran Mesrobian resumed his work on the Dolmabahce Palace, which was left incomplete due to the war.

Mihran Mesrobian continued designing apartment buildings in the city just before emigrating from the Ottoman Empire in 1921.

At the start of World War I, Mihran Mesrobian was conscripted into the Ottoman Army in August 1914.

Mihran Mesrobian was thus attached to the 4th Fortifications Regiment and served as an engineer.

Mihran Mesrobian was first sent to the Dardanelles where he took part in the Gallipoli Campaign in April 1915.

Mihran Mesrobian was directly under the command of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the future first President of the Republic of Turkey.

Mihran Mesrobian was tasked to position mines and develop tunnels beneath enemy positions.

Mihran Mesrobian was responsible for creating topographical maps, developing roads, and designing fortifications.

Mihran Mesrobian was then transferred to the Russian front during the winter.

Thereafter, Mihran Mesrobian's battalion was transferred to the Palestinian and Syrian front to combat Arab forces.

Mihran Mesrobian was then transferred to a British encampment in Zagazig, Egypt and was held there as a prisoner of war from late fall 1918 until his release in May 1919.

Mihran Mesrobian returned to Constantinople after the war and discovered that fifteen members of his family and relatives in Afyonkasarhisar were deported.

Mihran Mesrobian settled in Washington DC, where he worked as a draftsman under Washington developer Harry Wardman.

In 1925, a year after becoming the primary in-house architect for Wardman, Mihran Mesrobian was tasked to design the Carlton Hotel.

In 1929, Mihran Mesrobian received an award for excellence in his design for his work with the Carlton Hotel by the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

Mihran Mesrobian received the AIA's award for excellence in 1926.

Mihran Mesrobian was then tasked to design the renovations of the Wardman Tower.

Mihran Mesrobian became an American citizen when he was naturalized in 1927.

Nevertheless, Mihran Mesrobian continued designing for Wardman until his death in 1938.

In 1931, while working on the Dupont Circle Building, Mihran Mesrobian was commissioned by an Armenian friend, Nejib Hekimian, to design his oriental carpet store.

In 1940, Mihran Mesrobian designed the Glebe Center, known as Glebe Shopping Center located in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia.

In 1943, Mesrobian designed the Wakefield Manor, a garden apartment complex located at 1215 N Courthouse Road in Arlington.

Just prior to his retirement, Mihran Mesrobian designed the Lee Gardens North Historic District, known as Woodbury Park Apartments, in Arlington County, Virginia.

Mihran Mesrobian retired in the early 1950s and lived in 7410 Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, Maryland in a house he designed himself in 1941.

Mihran Mesrobian lived in the house until his death in 1975.

In 1956, Mihran Mesrobian stepped out of retirement and volunteered to design the restoration of the St Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington DC The restoration included a new design for the sanctuary of the church.

Mihran Mesrobian died on 21 September 1975 at the age of eighty-six in Chevy Chase, Maryland and is buried at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC.