Hayern Aysor is reflecting on missionaries who managed to save numerous Armenians through their self-devoted struggle. Today we present the life and career of Karen Eppe.

Karen Eppe is one of the devoted people who made a great contribution to the recovery of the Armenian people during the 1895 Hamidian Massacres and the years following the massacres. He was born in 1876 in Denmark. During the years of the Hamidian Massacres, he was studying medicine in Copenhagen. After learning about the massacres in the presses, he refuses to continue his studies, decides to join the European and American missionaries and starts sending and receiving letters to and from German Johannes Lepsius and American Miss Shatik, who were gathering orphans in Urfa. After several attempts to convince his parents, he finally arrives in Urfa in 1903. He was 27 years old when he was entrusted to raise and care for 300 Armenian orphans. Eppe quickly lears Armenian, gains everyone’s love and respect in a short amount of time, and the people start referring to him as “Miss Eppe Mother”. In 1915, Eppe was in Urfa once again. He didn’t spare any effort to help the Armenian deportees, as well as the participants of the heroic battles of the Armenians of Urfa. In 1917, he returns to Denmark and, after recovering from a heavy illness, starts telling people about the Armenian Genocide with his articles and lectures. He soon returns to Aleppo to help the local Armenians. In 1922, Eppe is appointed Plenipotentiary Representative to the League of Nations and deals with the accommodations of Armenian migrants. He takes daring steps to find and gather Armenian orphans and women and tours all the villages. Karen Eppe dies in 1934. Being a Protestant of Danish descent, he spends most of his life and dies as an Apostolic Armenian. According to his will, his funeral service and burial are conducted by the Armenian Church. His tomb is located at the Armenian National Cemetery in Aleppo. In 1947, the Karen Eppe Armenian Seminary is established in Aleppo.