Pupils of the Sahakyan School in Iconium

The photograph shows pupils of the Armenian Sahakyan School in the city of Iconium (Konya) in 1909–1910. A large group of girls stands and sits in rows, almost all of them holding bunches of flowers. In the centre, behind a table, three women are seated.

Iconium was part of the Ottoman Empire, but it was a multinational city where Armenians had lived for centuries, with Armenian schools, churches and communities. At the Sahakyan School, Armenian girls received a full education, studying languages, history, literature and culture.

A few years after this photograph was taken, the Armenian community of Iconium disappeared, like hundreds of Armenian towns and communities in Asia Minor.