Margaret Sarvarian
The life and works of the woman who brought change to Iranian education.
BIOGRAPHIES
9/6/20265 min read
Margarit Haroutunian — who became known as Margarit Sarvarian after her marriage — was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, (Then a part of greater Russian Empire in 1885.) in a middle-class Armenian family. Beside Margarit, her parents had given birth to two sisters and a brother.
Margarit completed her primary and secondary education in Tbilisi and then continued higher education in Nersisian school by pursuing Child Development and pedagogy. During this time she was exposed to the Froebelian method. The Froebelian method of teaching is an early childhood educational approach created by German educator Friedrich Froebel in 1837, which centers on learning through play, creativity, and connection to nature. These principles became the base of her approach to child development concept and her guiding light for future practices.
In the 19th century Tiflis (Tbilisi) was a major Armenian cultural center with a large Armenian population. Numerous Armenian schools, various publications, drama associations and societies, charities and nonprofit organizations functioned in the city. The Nersisian School officially opened in 1824 and throughout its existence it had a unique role in Eastern Armenian education. Many important Armenian figures of the time such as Gabriel Sundukian, Khachatur Abovian, Yerevand Kochar, Perch Proshyan and Hovhanes Tumanyan were educated in this school and some like Nikol Aghbalian and Artashes Abeghyan became friends with Margarit and collaborated with her in future years to serve the Armenian community and culture across the Diaspora.
In 1901, while studying, Margret began working as a teacher at the Froebel Preschool Center, and began incorporating her theoretic knowledge into hands-on, everyday practice. Soon her capabilities as a well-thought and dedicated child developer spread beyond the community and she received an invitation from The Haykazian-Tamaryan Educational Center in Tabriz, Persia to help improve the early child development department of that institution. In around 1904, she embarked on a dangerous journey southward towards Iran to answer the call of her Armenian compatriots. The travel rout through south Caucasus at this time was not entirely safe and their caravan, like many others was threatened throughout the trip by Kurdish and Turkish semi-militant raids, however Margarit eventually reached Tabriz safe and begins updating and improving the child development practices for the community.
In 1906, Margaret moved to the Iranian capital Tehran and soon after, she becomes involved with the Armenian Cultural and Artistic Center of Tehran, which hosted artistic activities such as theater productions. She later joined the Armenian Schools Theater Lovers' Association, where she was active as an actress, director, translator, and writer, all while continuing to work at Armenian schools in the Darvazeh Qazvin and Hassan-Abad neighborhoods of Tehran.
During this time Margarit befriended Aroosyak Sarvarian, who was an active member of the community affairs and a theater actress. This friendship leads to several theatrical productions during which Margaret meets Aroosyak's brother Mgrdich. The two become romantically involved, which eventually leads to their marriage in 1907 right after which their first son, Napoleon is born.
At the same time Margaret is being more involved in the community life and soon joins her Tbilisi school day's colleague Nikol Aghbalian with plans to revitalize Tehran's first Armenian national education center, The Haykazian School (Not to be mistaken with Tabriz's Haykazyan/Tamaryan school).
Established in 1870, The Haykazian school was the oldest and first European-style Armenian national school in Tehran. During Aghbalian’s tenure, the school aligned heavily with modern educational methods of the Caucasus region and placed an increasing emphasis on Armenian identity and cultural preservation during the final years of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.
In 1908 serving as the principal of Armenian national school of Tehran, Aghbalian, along with several other educated Armenians including Aroosyak and Margaret embark on modernization of the educational system of the Armenian institutes and subsequently a brand new building for this school was constructed in the Hassanabad district of Tehran to accommodate its growth.
In the same time, observing that preschool-aged children in Tehran lacked a suitable place to gather, and drawing upon her own interests and educational background, Margaret decided to establish a kindergarten. Thus, in 1910, she founded Tehran's first kindergarten using an innovative approach. The facility was located in a rented apartment on Arbab Jamshid Street, which she—with the help of family and friends—converted into a kindergarten.
Operations began in the first year with 37 preschool students; by the following year, enrollment had doubled, necessitating a move to a larger space with better amenities, such as a playground. In her kindergarten, she implemented modern educational principles and utilized contemporary methods to foster the children's creativity.
In the Tehran of that era, there were no shops selling supplies specifically for preschool-aged children; consequently, whatever the kindergarten students needed was crafted by hand. Tables and chairs sized for the children, toys, and props for puppet shows and theater productions were all made locally, while other specialized items—such as colored pencils, watercolors, books, and periodicals—were procured from Europe and the Caucasus.
The educational program at the Sarvarian Kindergarten was engaging and diverse, encompassing storytelling, crafts, clay modeling, puppet shows, choral singing, theater, dance, physical education, and music.
Many prominent figures, educators, and future administrators within Tehran’s Armenian community were alumni of her kindergarten. Among them, it is worth mentioning Elbis Farahian, who later went on to found the Kooshesh Kindergarten.
Araks Markarian, a former pupil of the Sarvarian Kindergarten who was active for years in Armenian theater, recalls her time there in her memoir, Ashes (published in Boston in 1998): "I remember vividly the things we played with: chickpeas that had been soaked overnight until they were soft and swollen, and matchsticks with the sulfur heads removed. We would paint them and use them to build houses and create little figures... Mrs. Sarvarian created all of this for us out of nothing... I was a student in her kindergarten when Mrs. Margarit was very young, and I maintained a close relationship with her during her middle and later years; she always possessed the spirit of a child—one could truly say she was an elderly child."
The Sarvarian Kindergarten soon expanded to become the Sarvarian Educational Complex—known as Mankakan Palat (Children's Palace)—comprising a kindergarten, a school, and a boarding facility. By 1951—the year before the death of its founder, Margarit Sarvarian—the complex served over 700 students.
Another of the complex's initiatives was the 1935 launch of Nor Hasker ("New Sheaves"), a magazine dedicated to children. Initially published monthly and later weekly, the magazine featured diverse sections for children. It also included a segment titled Mayriki Angyun ("Mother's Corner"), which provided mothers with instruction on nutrition, cooking, and child-rearing. The publication also featured plays for children, scripted specifically to allow for performance within the kindergarten, with all roles played by the children themselves.
Margarit Sarvarian was the mother of four children—Napoleon (1908), Mushegh (1910) Sonia (1912) and Alexander "Sasha" (1914) Each of whom continued their mother's legacy in their own way. Napoleon Sarvarian was passionate about painting and theater and was active in both fields. Moushegh Sarvarian (known professionally as Sarvari) later pursued a career in theater and film directing while also engaging in graphic design alongside his brother Napoleon; Sonia Sarvarian was also an amazing educator who later managed the Sarvarian School and Boostan schools and Sasha, who was in military and a pilot, was also a social activist who had to flee to Baku during the great purge of the Iran in 1940's. First three also collaborated on the magazine and the complex's special programs.
Margarit Sarvarian passed away in Tehran in 1952. Her funeral was a display of reunified grief as people from all walks of life and all ideological backgrounds were gathered to pay respect to a woman who dedicated her entire life to educate children and help them have better lives in future.