Vahan Cardashian

{{short description|American lawyer}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Vahan Cardashian

| image = Vahan cardashian.jpg

| caption =

| native_name = Վահան Քարտաշեան

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|12|01}}

| birth_place = Caesarea, Ottoman Empire
(present-day Kayseri, Turkey)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|06|11|1882|12|01}}

| death_place =

| nationality = Armenian American

| alma_mater = Yale University

| occupation = Public activist

| organization = ANCA

| spouse =

| relatives =

| website =

}}

Vahan Cardashian ({{langx|hy|Վահան Քարտաշեան}};{{cite news|title="Վահան Քարտաշեան" Մրցանակը՝ Արա Սիւտճեանին|url=http://asbarez.com/arm/175942/|access-date=13 June 2014|work=Asbarez|date=25 October 2013|language=hy}} December 1, 1882U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918{{spaced ndash}}June 11, 1934){{cite journal|last=Malkasian|first=Mark|title=The Disintegration of the Armenian Cause in the United States, 1918-1927|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|date=August 1984|volume=16|issue=3|publisher=Cambridge University Press, Middle East Studies Association of North America|pages=349–365|doi=10.1017/S002074380002821X|s2cid=161565944 }} was an Armenian-American political activist and lawyer.{{cite book |last=Cardashian|first=Vahan |title=The Ottoman Empire of the Twentieth Century |publisher= Yale, Making of Modern Law s |date=1908 |isbn=1287341675}}

Born in the city of Caesarea (now Kayseri), Ottoman Empire on December 1, 1882, or 1883, Cardashian studied in the local French lyceum and Talas American College. He emigrated to the United States in 1902. He got accepted at Yale University in 1904 and earned a law degree in 1908.{{cite book|title=Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut|date=1910|publisher=Yale University|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Kmc9AAAAYAAJ&dq=Vahan+Cardashian+1880&pg=PA449 449]}} In the same year, he wrote a book entitled The Ottoman Empire of the Twentieth Century. Cardashian entered the New York State Bar Association in 1909 and began practicing law. In 1913, he was the Fiscal Agent of the Ottoman Empire in the United States. Prior to the Armenian genocide of 1915, he served as a counselor and statistician to the Ottoman Chamber of Commerce in America. He was a counselor for the Ottoman Embassy in Washington, D.C., and then to the Ottoman Consulate General in New York from 1910 to 1915. He authored several books on the Armenian Question.{{cite news |author=Staff writer(s) |title=Obituary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59986216 |newspaper=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |location=New York, USA |date=1934-06-13 }}

In early 1919, he founded the American Committee for the Independence of Armenia (ACIA), the predecessor of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). He continued his efforts until his death in 1934.[https://auroraprize.com/en/armenia/detail/10158/vahan-cardashian-founder-first-armenian-american-lobby Vahan Cardashian, Founder of first Armenian-American lobby][http://asbarez.com/59652/understanding-vahan-cardashians-legacy/ Understanding Vahan Cardashian’s Legacy][https://hairenik.com/vfp/vahan-cardashian/ Vahan Cardashian] Some authors claim otherwise, but in his 1934 obituary, it is stated that Cardashian was survived by his sister, mother and brother.