Note Type
Historical NoteNote
In 1880, Garabed Yavrouian, a businessman from Istanbul, founded a tea trade in partnership with Hovhannes Issacoulian in Constantinople. The company, Yavrouyan and Issacoulian Tea, became known for its high-quality loose leaf and packaged teas. After the company seemingly shut down in Constantinople, the sons of the founders, who had already been managing the business, relocated it to Marseille, France, where it continued to operate. An advertisement in the Haratch newspaper marks the company’s 50th anniversary, during which special promotions were offered.
Leon Marghos Yavrouian, son of Garabed, was one of the heirs who moved to Marseille and continued to operate the family business at 23 Rue Senac, only a year after his arrival. It appears that Issacoulian was no longer involved when the business relocated to France. Leon was also actively engaged in the Armenian community. A 1948 edition of Miutiun newspaper records that Levon Yavrouyan became part of the leadership of the AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) branch in Marseille. Additionally, several members of the Yavrouian family were born in France during the 1920s and 1930s.
