OSMANLI’DAN CUMHURİYET’E BİR ERMENİ OKULUNUN SERENCAMI: SANASARYAN KOLEJİ 1881-1935

Sanasarian College was founded in Erzurum in 1881 by Armenian businessman Mgrdich Sanasarian. The college was one of three secondary schools established by Ottoman Armenians outside Istanbul. The goal of the school was to raise Armenian children in accordance with the spirit and rules of the Armenian Apostolic Church and to educate them in general and vocational subjects.Although Sanasarian College was an educational institution, it was also a strategic station where Armenian separatist movements were coordinated. In fact, one of the most important catalysts of the 1890 Erzurum rebellion was Sanasarian College. The college continued its education and training activities until 1912. In 1913, when the patriarchate seized the funds of the Sanasarian foundation, the school's income sources were cut off and after a while it was closed due to lack of allocations. The Patriarchate's efforts to revive the school in 1927 were unsuccessful, getting stuck in the judiciary.The aim of this study is to resolve the uncertainties about Sanasarian College, to answer the debates about the school's assets with archival sources, and to eliminate the information pollution regarding the closure of the school. In the article, which consists of an introduction and 4 subheadings, a panoramic framework is drawn about the establishment, operation, administrative and academic situation, teaching programs, student statistics, physical, sanitary and financial situation and socio-cultural activities of Sanasarian College, and the last part focuses on the closure of the school. The method used in our study is qualitative analysis techniques based on textual analysis and text-interpretation.