Mirza Melkum Khan with his family, Tehran, 1865

The photograph shows Mirza Melkum Khan, Hovsep Melkumyan, with his wife and daughter in Tehran. It was taken in 1865. The man stands wearing a tall dark fur hat and a long dark coat. The woman is seated in a long purple dress and a small cap, holding a child dressed in white.

The image presents the domestic life and appearance of an Iranian-Armenian intellectual family and bears witness to the presence, education and public role of Armenians in Iran.