[PRIVATELY PUBLISHED MEDICAL JOURNAL FOR THE ARMENIANS OF TREBIZOND] Բժիշկ: Ամսաթերթ բժշկական եւ առողջապահական / Pzhishk: Amsat'ert bzhshkakan ew aroghjapahakan. [i.e., Physician: A medical and health monthly]. (The first 12 issues)

GHAZARIAN, VAHAN.

[N.p.], Trapezon (Trabzon), 1911.

Contemporary quarter brown calf. Each issue features a distinct headpiece decoration on the title page. 4to (30 x 21 cm). In Armenian. 272 pages, with occasional black-and-white illustrations. Wear to spine and cracked hinges; age-toned edges, fading, some staining, and marginal creasing to pages. Margins trimmed. A bookbinder’s label from Istanbul appears on the lower left corner of the front pastedown: “Relieur G. Baytarian.” Otherwise, a good and well-preserved collection.

An exceedingly rare complete set of the first 12 issues from the inaugural year of this Armenian-language medical journal, personally published in 1911 in Trabzon by Dr. Ghazarian, a local Armenian physician. According to available online sources, the journal continued publication until the outbreak of WW1 in 1914. In 1915, the Ghazarian family was deported by Ottoman authorities and later resettled in the United States of America.

At a time when professional medical publications in minority languages were extremely rare in the Ottoman Empire, this journal represents a remarkable initiative. It was written entirely in Western Armenian and intended to provide medical knowledge, public health information, and scientific education to the Armenian-speaking community in Trabzon.

Trabzon was a cosmopolitan provincial capital with a significant Armenian population before WW1. Armenians were heavily involved in trade, education, and the professions, including medicine. Armenian doctors like Ghazarian often served not only their communities but also played a broader role in urban Ottoman society. Publishing a medical journal in Armenian, rather than Ottoman Turkish or French, was a conscious cultural and political act: it helped preserve the Armenian language and identity while promoting scientific modernity.

As of May 2025, OCLC lists the sole holding at the British Library worldwide (1091649606).