It seems likely that the first Zorab to move
to India was Manook Zorab, a younger brother of Mackertich
Zorabian, who moved to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)
in 1815, according to Hans Zorab. Manook is said to be
the one who dropped the "h" in the spelling of his
surname. He is unlikely to have moved by himself to India
in 1815, since he would have been only four years old at that
time, so he probably went later. They were presumably
living in Persia at the time of their move.
According to Mirzaian (1966)
(page 195), Manook Zorab,
in 1845, was instrumental in the foundation, in Calcutta, of the
Araratian Society, for the purpose of publishing books etc. in
the Armenian language. Its organ was "Azgaser Araratian"
("Patriot of Ararat").
Lt.-Col.
Dr Johannes Manuk Zorab,
son of Manook, and grandson of Zohrab II, was a Lt. Colonel
in the British Imperial Medical Service in India and a Civil
Surgeon. After joining the Indian Medical Service,
he was posted to Orissa and attended the Governor’s
family and the Government officials at Cuttack. At
some stage, he became Superintendant at Brussa Medical School.
The only known "Brussa" is in Turkey, and there
is no known documentation as to whether he ever even went
to Turkey. However, his distant relative, Lady
Fanny Blunt, mentions in Chapter One of her
book, "My Reminiscences," that her father,
the British Consul in Brussa, initiated a plan by the Turkish
Sultan in about 1840 to build a hospital in Brussa. Fanny's
uncles John Zohrab
and Dr. Paul Zohrab, as well
as her cousin General Sir
Edward Zohrab Pasha, also had links to Brussa, so it
is quite possible that it was the family connection which
got Johannes a medical job in Turkey.
This is confirmed by the following proposed solution to the mystery
of why he gave middle names to his two oldest children which referred
back to close relatives of Fanny Blunt:
-
Leonard Kars Zorab,
named after James Ernest Napoleon
Zohrab, who was decorated by the Turkish Sultan
for his contribution to the Battle of Kars;
-
Possibly, Mary Sandison (nee Zohrab)
had died by the time Dr. Zorab's eldest son was born
in 1878, and her husband had died in 1869, so he named his
sons after surviving members of that branch of the family,
in gratitude for their help. Another example of "gratitude-naming"
in the Zohrab family is the naming of Peter
Thomas Henry Gordon Zohrab after the benefactor of Dr.
Paul Zohrab.
Dr. Johannes Zorab left a substantial fortune, which was
shared by his five sons and two daughters. He also founded
a "dynasty" of medical people, which started in
British India and later moved
to Britain. One of his sons, Major
Dr. Arthur Batoum Zorab, qualified
as a doctor, distinguished himself as an eye specialist
in Southampton, England and invented
a glaucoma operation, which was named the “Zorab-Operation”,
although operations for glaucoma are apparently no longer
in favour, at time of writing. Arthur, in turn,
had five sons, four of whom were doctors (William, Edward,
Phillip and John) and one of whom (Robert) was a dentist.
Edward Crew Zorab was also an ophthalmic surgeon.
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Arthur's son Phillip Arthur Zorab has a symposium series named
after him: http://www.ndos.ox.ac.uk/pzs/Index.html
. Dr.John Zorab was an Anaesthetist,
Lecturer at the University of Bristol, Vice-President of Association
of Anaesthetists, and President of World Federation of Societies
of Anaesthesiologists.
Anne Basil's book mentions (on page
160) that a Hugh Zorab operated on the Calcutta Stock Exchange (i.e.
as a broker), that (page 267) a Miss G. Zorab taught needlework at the
Davidian Girls' School, and (page 231) that a Dr. S. Zorab won several
local tennis tournaments in India (Calcutta?). This may have been the
same Zorab who Dr. John Zorab said had once competed at Wimbledon. On
page 124, the same book mentions that "a kind gentleman named Zorab"
assisted the founder of the Davidian Girls' School, David Aviet David,
when he was living in an Armenian alms-house in Calcutta.
Other evidence that links between various branches of the
family were kept up is the fact that Maddocks
(1989) says so, and states that Leonard
Kars Zorab was named "Kars" after James
Ernest Napoleon Zohrab's association with that town. If
that is the case, one wonders who his brother, Major
Dr. Arthur Batoum Zorab, was named after, as far as "Batoum"
is concerned. The town of Batoum
(Batumi) is
now in Georgia.
For Leonard Kars Zorab, see here.
Oswald Zorab,
b. 1893, d. 1930, was a mechanical engineer and married Marie.
His Calcutta tombstone can be seen here.
Manook (Manuk) Zorab
b. 1865, d.1928, was a barrister. He was born in Calcutta, educated
at St. Xavier’s College and after graduating went to England
and was called to the Bar. On his return to Calcutta he practiced
at the High Court mainly on the Original Side and specialised in Common
Law. However, he also conducted some important criminal cases
successfully. His Calcutta tombstone can also be seen
here.
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