Moses Housepian
Moses Minas Housepian (Armenian: Մովսես Մինասի Հովսեփյան, 1876 – December 11, 1952) was an Armenian-American physician who escaped the Hamidian massacres in his youth and later headed a humanitarian medical mission in Russian Armenia from 1916-1918 treating refugees from the Armenian genocide.[1][2] He is credited with stopping the spread of a typhus epidemic and was known as the "Angel of Mercy" and as Dr. Purgich, Armenian for "Dr. Saviour."[3]
![](../I/Dr_Moses_Housepian%252C_1916.jpg.webp)
Dr Housepian was also active in the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, whose chapter in New York City was posthumously named for him.[4]
His wife, Makrouhie Housepian (née Ashjian), was active in the Armenian General Benevolent Union and other Armenian causes.[5] Moses and Makrouhie Housepian were the parents of Marjorie Housepian Dobkin and Edgar Housepian.[6]
Housepian was born in Kessab, Cilicia, Ottoman Empire (now Syria) and died in New York City.
References
- https://mirrorspectator.com/2011/05/14/honoring-ny-area-early-writers-and-intellectuals-of-the-mirror-spectator/
- https://mirrorspectator.com/2010/01/16/humble-far-honoree-housepian-follows-in-parents-footsteps/
- Dr. M. M. Housepian: A Tribute to His Memory (pamphlet published in 1954 by the Dr. M. M. Housepian Memorial Fund Committee and printed by the Gotchnag Press in New York City), p. 6: "During the First World War, news of the deportations and massacres in Turkey led Dr. Housepian to organize a volunteer group and leave for Armenia. There he found forty thousand refugees... A typhus epidemic had created urgent need for medical care... Archbishop Tirayre of [The Armenian Church's headquarters at] Etchmiadzin has observed that Dr. Housepian's efforts were directly responsible for checking the spread of the epidemic... many of his grateful patients referred to him as "Dr. Purgitch" (Dr. Savior).
- https://mirrorspectator.com/2015/03/12/in-memory-of-dr-edgar-housepian
- https://mirrorspectator.com/2010/01/16/humble-far-honoree-housepian-follows-in-parents-footsteps/
- "In Memoriam: Dr. Edgar Housepian (1928-2014)". November 22, 2014.