The Sarkies Brothers were a group of brothers of Armenian ethnicity, best known for founding a chain of luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia. Born in Isfahan, Iran, the brothers were:
- Martin Sarkies (1852-1912)
- Tigran Sarkies (1861-1912)
- Aviet Sarkies (1862-1923)
- Arshak Sarkies (1868-1931)
In chronological order, the hotels founded or run by the brothers were:
- April 15, 1884: Eastern Hotel, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
- 1885: Oriental Hotel, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Previously the Hotel de l'Europe.
- 1 December 1887: Raffles Hotel, Singapore
- August 1889: Eastern Hotel sold, Oriental Hotel renamed as Eastern & Oriental Hotel
- 1901: Strand Hotel, Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Sold by the brothers in 1925.
- 1923: Sea View Hotel, Singapore, originally built in 1906 and operated by the Sarkies Brothers under lease until 1931.
- 1905: Crag Hotel, Penang Hill, Malaysia.
It was 23-year-old Tigran who took the first step into the hotel industry, seeing it as more profitable than his fledgling auctioneering business. Taking over the lease of a large compound house at 1A Light Street, he named it the Eastern Hotel, announcing on 15 April 1884 that the hotel was open to receive boarders.
In addition, the brothers' cousin Arathoon Sarkies (1882-1932) managed the Adelphi Hotel in Singapore from 1903 to 1908, and Hotel Majapahit (as Hotel Oranje) in Surabaya, Indonesia was founded in 1910 by Martin's cousin Lucas Martin Sarkies (1876-?) and his brother John. Kartika Wijaya in Batu, Java, Indonesia was originally built as a vacation villa for the Sarkies, and was only later turned into a hotel.
Arshak, the last of the brothers, died on January 9, 1931. On June 10 of the same year, a bankruptcy case was filed against the Raffles Hotel, eventually resulting in the Sarkies family losing control of their hotels in Singapore and Penang. The hotel in Surabaya, however, stayed in the hands of the Sarkies' cousins' descendants until 1969.
Another Sarkies hotel still operating is The Niagara Hotel, Lawang, East Java.
The Sarkies name still lives on in Singapore through the namesake Sarkies Road. However this is named after Mrs Regina Sarkies, not of the Raffles Hotel Sarkies family. (home of the Alliance Française de Singapour, next to Newton Circus), and in Arathoon's descendants.
Video Sarkies Brothers
References
Maps Sarkies Brothers
External links
- the History of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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