Agop Ayvaz

Hagop Ayvaz (April 2, 1911, Istanbul – September 29, 2006, Istanbul), was an Istanbul-based theater artist, writer, and publisher of Armenian origin. He founded Kulis, the first Armenian theater magazine in Turkey, which was published continuously for 50 years (1946–1996).

Hagop Ayvaz was born in 1911 in Yenikapı, Istanbul. He conducted his studies at Levon Vartuhyan School in Topkapı and later at Esayan School in Taksim. After graduation, he worked with his stepfather as a shoemaker in Çatal Han, Beyazıt.

Ayvaz's involvement in the theater world began in the late 1920s, when he was introduced to Krikor Hagopyan, the director of the Arevelyan Taferahump [Oriental Theatre] by Harutyun Samurkaş. He first appeared on stage in 1928 in the Armenian operetta Çağatsbanin Ağçigı [Miller's Daughter, in Western Armenian] by Srapion Manasyan. After that, he started to make part of Istanbul's theater world. Subsequently, he performed with various theater groups in different theaters. He wrote his first play in 1932, entitled Bir Aktörün Hayatı veya Son Perde [The Life of An Actor or the Last Act, in Turkish]. Since plays in Armenian were banned during this period, he first wrote it in Turkish. After the ban on Armenian theater was lifted, he renamed it Shaderen Meg gam verchin Varakuyr [One of Many of the Last Act, in Western Armenian] and published the script in Armenian in 1950. The cover design was made by Berc Gürten. After the first years, when Ayvaz published the magazine alone in 500 copies, it gained greater popularity and started to be published in 2,500 copies. Ayvaz's travels to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Greece, and Iran helped increase the magazine's subscriber numbers. Between 1954 and 1956 existed also a Turkish-language version of the magazine. The magazine was published without interruption until 1996.

From 1947 to 1950, Ayvaz organized Kulis Nights annually, providing an opportunity for Armenian and Turkish actors to meet.

Hagop Ayvaz for Agos Hagop Ayvaz wrote columns for the Agos magazine between the years 1997 and 2006 in various Armenian and Turkish sections. His articles from the Armenian-written columns Lutsika Dudu were in 2003 published in a volume by Aras Publishing House.

Hagop Ayvaz's Archive The personal archive of Hagop Ayvaz covers the period from the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century.

The archive was donated to Agos newspaper after Ayvaz's death in 2006. Subsequently, the donation of some of Ayvaz's personal effects, awards, and full collection of magazine Kulis by Dr. Barkev Balımoğu to Hrant Dink Foundation in 2019 made the archive more coherent and compact.

The archive contains play manuscripts, printed texts, magazines and newspapers, photographs, drawings, postcards and more. The archive also includes a 1104-issue full collection of magazine Kulis. Some of the material of the archive was used for the exhibition on Hagop Ayvaz entitled Coulisse: Hagop Ayvaz, A Chronicler of Theater.