Armenian traditional garments of Urmia region
Anna Hormouz (Armenian: Աննա Հուրմուզ), also known as Mrs. Anna Raffi, was the wife of renowned Armenian novelist Raffi and mother of Aram and Arshak Melik-Hakobian. Anna was largely responsible for the publication of her husband’s works in London after he passed, as well as, a devoted scholar of the Armenian question. Mrs. Anna spoke and wrote very fluently in Armenian and Assyrian. She also knew Atrpatakan Turkish, Russian and Georgian. She spoke, read, and wrote in English.
In the presented photographers taken in the late 19th century (presumably between the 1860s and the 1890s, The History Museum of Armenia and The Armenian Museum of Literature and Arts), she is wearing the traditional garments of Armenian women of Parskahayk (Persarmenia) region (on the western shore of the Lake Urmia), Salmas town. This sumptuously-decorated ensemble is peculiar with the abundance of rhombus-shaped patterns and silverware accessories, semi-closed mouth, and needle-case/needle-holder hanging alongside her pendant, highlighting her identity and her strong ties with the ancestral heritage.
