Family Stories
Behind every photograph, achievement, and name in the family tree are the stories people remembered.
Family Stories brings together memories and anecdotes passed from one generation to another—the funny, touching, difficult, and sometimes seemingly ordinary moments that reveal who these people really were.
Margaret Reappeared
Long after Margaret Sarvarian had passed away, her grandson Edward Ballasanian carried vivid memories of the grandmother he had loved and admired. Years later, after building a successful career as an urban planner on the East Coast, Edward returned to Armenia and became involved in the enormous task of rebuilding and reimagining Yerevan during a period of profound change.
Word of his return eventually reached relatives in Tbilisi. One day, an elderly woman arrived at Edward’s office to see him. She was his mother’s aunt—Margaret’s sister. Edward was stunned.
As he later recalled in his memoirs, looking at the woman was almost like seeing Margaret again. The resemblance went far beyond appearance. She carried the same vigor, the same energy, and even the same rapid, animated way of speaking that he remembered so well from his grandmother.
For several precious hours, Edward found himself transported backward in time. Sitting across from Margaret’s sister, listening to her talk, laugh, and tell stories, memories he thought belonged to another lifetime suddenly felt present again. For a brief afternoon in Yerevan, it was as though a small part of his grandmother had returned.
It would also be their only meeting. Margaret’s sister returned to Georgia, and the two never had another opportunity to see one another.
But Edward never forgot those hours. Decades after Margaret was gone, and hundreds of miles from the places where his childhood memories had been formed, she had somehow reappeared—if only for an afternoon.
Margaret and Elbis
In the well-known Sarvarian School photograph from the 1914–15 school year, a little girl has her hand on Margaret's shoulder. Her name is Elbis Farahian (Kwanian). At the time, she was simply one of Margaret’s young pupils. But the path she would follow makes her presence in that photograph particularly meaningful.
Years after standing beside Margaret in that school photograph, Elbis would establish and lead the Farahian School and Kindergarten in Tehran. Generations of Armenian children passed through its classrooms, receiving an Iranian education while maintaining a strong connection to Armenian language, culture, and community life.
The connection between teacher and pupil did not end in childhood. Elbis carried forward educational ideas she had encountered under Margaret, including an emphasis on modern preschool methods and the importance of music, physical activity, creativity, and aesthetic development in a child’s education.
Also in the photo are Margaret's three other children, Napoleon and Sonia right next to her and Mushegh, somewhere in the upper lines (Not in this frame.)
The Beginning of a Long Friendship
In 1959, a new student named Leonid Sarvarian arrived at Emrooz High School in Tehran. Among his classmates was Fereydoon Parsanejad, then a young student already in charge of the school’s theater activities.
Theater became the bridge between them. Leonid brought Fereydoon makeup materials, shared his knowledge of the stage, offered ideas during rehearsals—and, at times, challenged the young director enough to cause a little friction. But what began with creative disagreements soon developed into a remarkable friendship.
Through Leonid, Fereydoon was introduced to the Sarvarian family and to the cultural world surrounding the Sarvarian School (Kakh-e Koodakan - Farsi for Palace of Children). Theater, music, literature, and long conversations followed. Parsanejad would later describe Kakh-e Koodakan as being “like my first university.”
Their friendship, born around a school stage in Tehran, endured for more than six decades, until Leonid’s passing in Los Angeles in 2023.
More Stories Are on the Way
The Sarvarian story is still unfolding. More memories, anecdotes, photographs, and discoveries will be added here as we continue exploring our family history. Check back soon for new stories from across the generations.