Insurance Policy (Arakel Partokyan)
Name/Title
Insurance Policy (Arakel Partokyan)Scope and Content
Primary Artifact (In Collection) The principal object in the holding is an original printed and handwritten Ottoman-Turkish fire insurance policy (yangın sigorta mukavelenamesi) issued by the Perth and London-based General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation, Limited. Registered under policy number 258660, the contract was executed on February 26, 1927, for Arakel Partokyan Effendi. It provided 1,000 Turkish Liras in indemnity coverage against direct loss or damage by fire (harik) for his residence and household contents located within Istanbul. Reflecting the dual administrative standards of the early Turkish Republic, the policy records an official one-year term extending from February 26, 1927, to February 26, 1928, in both the Rumi administrative calendar (1343) and Western dating. Financial schedules on the document detail a base premium of 5 Liras alongside state stamp duties (damga pulu) totaling roughly 11 to 12 Liras. The lower margin features fluid Riq'a script annotations, revenue stamps with cancellation ink, and the authorized signature and official seal of the corporation's regional agency. Comparative Archival Context (Related External Records) Reference documentation from external collections illuminates the personal history and broader insurance portfolio of the policyholder across the late Ottoman and post-Ottoman transitions. A life insurance certificate (Policy No. 508605) issued on April 8, 1918, in Constantinople by the Austro-Hungarian firm L'Ancre (Der Anker) identifies the insured as Arakel Partokyan, a merchant (négociant) born in Erzindjan (Anatolia) in 1889. That 20-year mixed endowment policy insured a capital sum of 8,000 francs and designated his wife, Madame Heghiné, and their three children—Sarkis, Navart, and Meliné—as beneficiaries. Additionally, an earlier French-language policy booklet (Policy No. 212314) issued by the same British insurer, General Accident, records a policy for Arakel Partokyan running through February 26, 1922, for an insured sum of 1,000 Turkish pounds (Ltg: 1000) at an annual premium of 5.83 Turkish pounds. Together, these documents trace a continuous decade-long archival thread (1918–1927) following the merchant's financial holdings, familial network, and persistent reliance on European commercial insurance firms operating in Constantinople through periods of major geopolitical change.Category
Misc. Documents