Kegham Kavafyan

Kegham Kavafyan (Գեղամ Գաւաֆեան, born 1888 Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey – November 30, 1959 Switzerland) was an Ottoman Armenian architect. He is noted for his construction plans for the Süreyya Opera House in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey.

Biography Süreyya Opera House in Kadıköy, Istanbul, designed by Kavafyan.

Kavafyan was born in Constantinople to Armenian parents. He received his primary education at the Armenian Surp Haç Tbrevank School in Üsküdar. He continued his education at the prestigious Berberian Academy. In 1910 he graduated from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, a Civil Engineering School in Paris. The opera house was known to be the first musical theatre on the Asian side of Istanbul. He also renovated the Mhitaryan Armenian School in the Pangaltı district of Istanbul in 1917. He became the principal of the Getronagan Armenian High School from 1917 to 1927. Kavafyan died in Switzerland during therapy at the age of 71.