From the Book of One Thousand Tales: Stories of Armenia and its people, 1892-1922

by Diana Agabeg Apcar

Diana Agabeg Apcar, appointed Honorary Consul to Japan in 1920, became the first Armenian woman diplomat and one of the very first women appointed to any diplomatic post in the twentieth century. In this collection, written nearly 100 years ago, she chronicles the joys, loves and pain of a mountain people buried deep in the Caucasus, whose faith transcended their suffering.

Unique is the fact that the author of theses tales, a direct descendant of her scattered race, never set foot in her beloved homeland. She wrote them in a country far removed geographically, ethnically and culturally from her upbringing, from her family and from her Mother Church. Word of mouth was her sole source, gleaned from the many hundreds of displaced Armenians seeking new homes and a new life away from their tormentors.

This manuscript, written so many years ago, languished and finally came to light 67 years after the death of the author.