Sonia Sarvarian
Established the Boostan Elementary School while raising two remarkable sons, helping her mother and brothers strengthen the Sarvarian School, and eventually carrying Margaret’s torch into the next generation.
Sonia Sarvarian - Balasanian (1912–1970) was the third child of Margaret Harutunian and Mgrdich Sarvarian, born after her brothers Napoleon and Mushegh and before her younger brother Alexander (Sasha). She spent her earliest years in her mother’s kindergarten, before continuing her education at Armenian and Iranian public schools in Tehran. Unlike Mushegh and Napoleon, who were sent to boarding schools in Tbilisi early on, Sonia remained in Tehran with her family.
After graduation and In 1934, Sonia married Baghdan Balasanian, a merchant originally from Goris, Armenia, who had moved south to Tehran, where he met and fell in love with her. Their first son, Edward, was born in 1936, followed two years later by their second son, Zareh.
Education remained at the center of Sonia’s life. While raising her two sons, she stayed closely involved with the Sarvarian School, serving on its board and working alongside her mother Margaret and her sister-in-law Jenia, Mushegh’s wife. Deeply devoted to her children’s education, she later sent both sons to England to continue their studies after graduating from high school.
From left: Araks Sarvarian (Mastian) Napoleon's wife and a facinating Armenian litriture teacher, Sonia Sarvarian (Balassanian) School's principal, Mushegh Sarvarian and his wife Jenia Movsesian, the principal of the Sarvarian school.
Sonia eventually founded the Boostan School near the Sarvarian School, carrying forward her family’s commitment to education and the development of Armenian children in Tehran. She remained dedicated to this work until her death in 1970.
Sonia Sarvarian and Baghdan Balassanian
An end of school year photo of Sonia (In black on right) and her students in Boostan Elementary school. In the center of the upper line and exactly three students away from her stands Tereza Azarian, who in about twenty years after this photo will become Sonia's nephew, Arthur Sarvarian's wife.