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A Brief History of the Pira,

Bit-Abram & Taimoorazy Families

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Home – Baker/Williams Genealogy

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The ancestral homeland of the Pira, Bit-Abram and Taimoorazy families is in northwest Iran, west of Lake Urmia, in Azerbaijan Province. They were part of the people sometimes referred to as the Urmian Assyrians.

 

Mishail Pira was born 28 July 1892 in the village of Chamakie near Urmia, Iran. His father was Benyamin Verda, a carpenter, and his mother was Rebecca Pira. In the oral history of the Pira family it is said that Benyamin used the surname Pira from Rebecca’s family as requested by her father, Shamasha Pira, a church elder or deacon.

 

Benyamin Verda died young. His son, Mishail Pira, left the village of his birth at an early age; possibly as early as 1905, and with the blessing of his mother he went to Tsarist Russia. He probably went to live with an uncle in Tiflis (Tbilisi) but we do not know the details. Mishail developed his skills as a businessman and merchant trading goods between Russia and Iran and is said to have “prevailed and flourished” in Russia. It was most likely in Tiflis (Tbilisi) that Mishail became friends with Freydun Bit-Abram. Through that friendship he met, and in 1920 married, Freydun’s sister Judat Bit-Abram.

 

Judat Bit-Abram was born in 1901 in the village of Charbash, near Urmia, Iran. Her father was Yacob Bit-Abram and her mother was Insoph Taimoorazy. She was raised and educated in Russia. The Bit-Abram family migrated to Russia when Judat was an infant, probably about 1902. The Taimoorazy family might have left Urmia for Russia about the same time. It is apparent that the Bit-Abram and Taimoorazy families settled in Tbilisi, Georgia, then known as Tiflis, which was under Russian rule and was latter part of the Soviet Union. The name Taimoorazy was known as Taimoorazof in Russia. The Bit-Abram family photograph from circa 1918 includes three Taimoorazy women. Insoph Taimoorazy is the wife of Yacob Bit-Abram and two of her sisters are included in the family group. Insoph Taimoorazy Bit-Abram’s father was Taimooraz Taimoorazy, or Taimoorazof in Russia.

{Bit-Abram Family Photograph}

 

 

Soon after they married in 1920 Mishail and Judat Pira crossed the border into Iran. When they attempted to return they found the border crossing closed and they were not allowed to return. To the best of my knowledge they did not attempt to return to Russia after that experience but stayed in Iran. In Russia Judat had obtained a medical degree. In Iran Dr. Judat Pira began her rather remarkable career in obstetrics. The remainder of her life was dedicated to her family and to her medical and humanitarian work. She worked in different areas of Iran including Tabriz, Maku, Zanjan and Tehran. Judat established medical clinics and received honors from the government and even from the Shah of Iran. She is remembered by her family as being dedicated to her work and compassionate toward the women that she cared for and the babies that she helped bring into this world. Judat Pira died 6 April 1964, barely six months after immigrating to America.

{Pira Family Photographs}

 

Due to the great dangers and hardships experienced by Christians in Iran, a goal of the Piras was to have their children leave Iran when they came of age for continued education and hopefully to live elsewhere. It is said that Judat envisioned the day when many Assyrians would leave their homeland due to a repressive government as occurred in 1979 when Ayatullah Khomeini came to power. One at a time, beginning with Ben in 1948, the children left Iran. The parents were the last to leave and arrived in America in September 1963. Ben, Sourmi, Lili and Lida became American citizens and Tony (Sardar) became a citizen of Germany. Mishail Pira became an American citizen in 1969.

 

Many other friends and family members immigrated to America as well, including the Taimooraz and Atlantida (Allichka) Oushana Taimoorazy family. I will not name them all but below is a link to the Descendants of Taimooraz Taimoorazy.

{Descendants of Taimooraz Taimoorazy}

 

Richard W. Baker