Elke Hartmann studied history and Islamic studies at the Free University of Berlin. She graduated from the Institute of Islamic Studies of the same university earning a degree of a Doctor of Philosophy for research on the topic on conscription in the Ottoman Empire. She defended a postdoctoral thesis on the life and personal testimonies of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the Catholic University of Budapest. In 2010, together with Vahe Tashjian, she founded the Project Houshamadian, which is aimed at the idea of reconstructing Armenian’s everyday life and culture in the Ottoman Empire. In 2016, together with Balint Kovac, she founded the Institute of Armenian Studies at the Catholic University of Budapest. Since April, 2019 E. Hartmann is the Acting Head of the Department of Turkish Studies at the University of Hamburg.

KOMITAS AND THE ARMENIANS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Being born in 1896 in Kütahya (Kutina), Western Anatolia, Soghomon Soghomonyan (later Komitas Vardapet) grew up speaking Turkish and received Armenian education in the Mother See of holy Etchmiadzin. The presentation focuses on the preconditions of the life of Armenians between the Ottoman and the Russian Empires. Specific coverage is given to the life-style and culture of Turkish Armenians in the XIX century.