Aghavni Papazian (fl. ), was an Ottoman Armenian actress. She is
counted as one of the first professional female actors in the Ottoman
Empire and thereby the Middle East.In the s, the modern theatre was
founded in the Ottoman Empire by an Armenian theatre company. As
Muslims did not consider acting a suitable profession, the first
actors in the Ottoman Empire was Christian Armenians, and the stigma
of the profession was especially the case for females, the actresses
received a higher salary than their male colleagues, and they could
also continue their careers undisturbed after the Armenian theater
monopoly was abolished in the Ottoman Empire in ; after this point,
male Armenian actors found competition from Muslim Turkish male
actors, while no Muslim Turkish female actor ever performed on stage
before . She and her college Arousyak Papazian are mentioned by the
historian Mikael Nalbandian as two pioneers in defying prejudices by
performing on stage. As such, they became publicly visible women in
the Muslim Ottoman Empire in a period when the female members of the
audience had to watch their plays behind screens. Aghavni Papazian was
also historical as the first actress to have performed in Iran, when
she appeared on stage in Tabriz. This was, however, before a Christian
Armenian audience; the Muslim audience in Tabriz and Iran did not see
the performance of an actress until , and in the case of Teheran, not
until the performance of Madame Golofin and Madame Babian in .Papazyan
counted as one of the first professional female actors in the Ottoman
Empire and thereby the Middle East.In the s, the modern theatre was
founded in the Ottoman Empire by an Armenian theatre company. As
Muslims did not consider acting a suitable profession, the first
actors in the Ottoman Empire was Christian Armenians, and the stigma
of the profession was especially the case for females, the actresses
received a higher salary than their male colleagues, and they could
also continue their careers undisturbed after the Armenian theater
monopoly was abolished in the Ottoman Empire in ; after this point,
male Armenian actors found competition from Muslim Turkish male
actors, while no Muslim Turkish female actor ever performed on stage
before . She and her college Arousyak Papazian are mentioned by the
historian Mikael Nalbandian as two pioneers in defying prejudices by
performing on stage. As such, they became publicly visible women in
the Muslim Ottoman Empire in a period when the female members of the
audience had to watch their plays behind screens. Aghavni Papazian was
also historical as the first actress to have performed in Iran, when
she appeared on stage in Tabriz. This was, however, before a Christian
Armenian audience; the Muslim audience in Tabriz and Iran did not see
the performance of an actress until , and in the case of Teheran, not
until the performance of Madame Golofin and Madame Babian in .Papazyan
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