CONCISE BIOGRAPHY OF MR. AUGUSTINE BADEER

{note - some dates and details are not known - if you have information, please comment below and share any details and dates that you can add to this short biography!} 

Augustine Badeer was born 1910 in Mersin, Cilicia (part of the Ottoman Empire).


He was the second child born to Sarkis Garboushian and his wife Persapeh [nee Koundakjian]. Sarkis had the good opportunity to go to the America in his youth to study, through the generosity of a missionary organization. In America he changed his last name to “Badeer”.

Augustine’s siblings were William, Henry, and Margaret. Because his father Sarkis was a doctor in the Ottoman army, the family was officially spared from the deportation of the Armenians (as part of the genocidal scheme of the Young Turks ruling party of the time). Later on the family decided to relocate in -------------, where many of the Armenian remnants were residing.

During the years 19xy-19zw, he was serving as an officer in the British army who were there as part of the Palestine mandate. He also had the good fortune to marry Verjin Janjigian. In 1941?, his sister Margaret married Dr. Puzant Krikorian, and his younger brother Henry married Marie Kassarjian.

In 19xy, Badeers settled in Beirut, Lebanon. In 19xy, in partnership with doctors Peter Manougian and Puzant Krikorian they founded a hospital in Beirut called Christian Medical Center (commonly referred to as CMC). In collaboration with the AMAA, this institution served as a practical missionary institution. After long years of service when the principals retired, this institution was donated to the

Not having any children of their own, they contributed greatly to the welfare and education of Armenian children through the AMAA. Badeers were wholeheartedly involved in the programs and activities of the Christian Endeavor Union. For long years, he served in the Christian Endeavor Executive Committee. He
contributed time and money for the Christian Endeavor publications in Armenian: “Tchanasser” [‘Endeavor-Love’] and “Badanegan Artsakank” [Youth Echo]. Augustine Badeer’s monumental contribution was in the purchase and development (with the cooperation of other friends and relatives) of KCHAG: {“KCHAG” is the acronym for “Krisdoneagan Chanits Amarnayin Getron”; which means “Christian Endeavor Summer Center”. Groups associated with the Armenian Evangelicals had their activities and conferences there during the summer months: Needy children, youth groups, Teachers Union, Church groups.

In 197x, the Badeers immigrated to the United States and settled in Fresno, California; being neighbors to the Krikorians. They became active and contributing members of the Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church. But his heart and interests were for the Armenian.

At the end of his life, Augustine had cancer which ended his life in 198x. He was survived by his wife; who was placed in Ararat Home [Senior Center] in Los Angeles. Though this biography was for Augustine, it should be emphasized that his wife Verjin was inseparably and effectively involved in everything achieved
through Augustine. 

Even after the passing of the Badeers, their heritage is evidenced in the generous
financial legacy left to AMAA through the Badeer Family Trust. Blessed be their memory, and may their impact be felt even after they have gone.

Brief Life History of Henry Sarkis Badeer

                I was born in January, 1914, in Mersine (Now called Icel), by the Mediterranean Sea in Eastern Turkey. Parents were Sarkis Badeer and Persape Koundakjian, both Armenians. The family survived the First World War miraculously. I was a baby in 1915, with two older brothers, when the order came to be exiled (all Armenians in Turkey). My mother thought that I would never make it. In the meantime, my father being a physician had treated the eyes of a Turkish farmer at the outskirts of the city. He was very pleased with my father, both as a physician and as a good person. He had the bright idea of suggesting to the Turkish Exile Authorities that instead of perishing as a doctor, they would do better by taking him to the Turkish Army and letting him serve the troops during the War. So they did. We survived the War (1914-1918) and returned to Mersine at the end of the War.

In 1924, we got permission to move to Beirut, Lebanon. The intention was to settle there. I grew up in Beirut, first in an Armenian High School for Boys. Then went to the Preparatory School of the American University of Beirut graduating in 1930. This was followed by two years in College (Freshman and Sophomore) and I was accepted to enter the Medical School of the American University. Studied Medicine five years and graduated in 1938. I was lucky to get a job to teach Physiology (1938). Taught physiology to pharmacy students and lab to medical students. In 1939 the Second World War started and in early forties the chairman of the Dept. (Dr. C.W. Hampel) returned to the U.S. and I was alone to teach medical students. In the early thirties, we became citizens of Lebanon and my citizenship record for some unknown reason, stated my birthday to be 1915 (hence my official birthday is 1915).

In 1948, my chairman (Dr. J.O. Pinkston) arranged a Rockefeller Fellowship for me to spend a year of research at Harvard Medical School. Before leaving for the U.S., I got married to Marie Kassarjian from Aleppo, Syria. The research at Harvard was under the guidance of Dr. John Pappenheimer (the effect of cooling the blood on the circulation in the hind-leg of the cat).

On returning to Beirut in 1949, I started research on the dog heart in the heart-lung preparation on Starling. In 1956, I became the Chairman of the Department and in 1957 I took a sabbatical at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. In 1965, I decided to move to the U.S. as a Visiting Prof. at the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. under Dr. Chandler Brooks (1965-67). In 1967 I accepted a position as Prof. of Physiology at Creighton Medical Students. Also taught dental students and Nurses. I retired as emeritus Prof. in 1991. My publications are related to heart and circulation (total 82) and a textbook on Cardiovascular Physiology.

We have two sons and ten grandchildren, two of whom are married. One great-grandson, 2 years old.

Sarkis (Garboushian) Badeer

Sarkis Badeer and Persape (Koundakjian) on their wedding day in 1906.

Daughter Maggie, Persape (Koundakjian) & Sarkis, and son 

Henry Badeer on the balcony in Beirut, Lebanon circa 1939.

A little piece of history that he wrote about himself. A single-page auto-biography of 

Sarkis (Garboushian) Badeer, my great-grandfather. 

From Garbushian to Badeer...

Maggie, Persape {Koundakjian}, Sarkis and Henry Badeer

Our story begins around 1884 in an Armenian village known as Kessab in Northeast Syria. A teenage boy named Sarkis Garboushian (birth date unknown) was attending an American Mission School in Latakia, a Syrian town by the Mediterranean Sea, south of Kessab. The School missionary Henry Easson apparently was impressed by Sarkis and asked him to go with him to America. Sarkis was interested, but had to ask the permission of his mother, Martha, who was a practical midwife. “Go my son,” was her reply.

After two months of travel by sea, Sarkis and Missionary Henry Easson arrived in the United States. Whether or not they had to stay at Ellis Island is unknown. Sarkis worked his way through school and graduated from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (where Easson was from). Subsequently, he entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and graduated in 1893 (His diploma is still in the family archives). 

During this period the college considered the name “Garboushian” to be too long and difficult to pronounce. They asked Sarkis his father’s first name. It was Badeer (traditional counterpart of Peter). They decided to call him Sarkis Badeer, which appears on his diploma from Jefferson Medical College (now known as Jefferson University in Philadelphia.)