In Memoriam: Shushan Yeni-Komshian Teager (1931-2024) | |
With deep sadness, the extended NAASR community joins with family and friends around the world in mourning the loss of Shushan Yeni-Komshian Teager (1931-2024) of Belmont, MA, on August 6. Shushan was the senior member of NAASR’s Board of Directors and a beloved and respected pillar of the Armenian community.
We are profoundly grateful for the gift of Shushan’s long life and the energy, dedication, and insight she brought to NAASR as to everything she did.
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Shushan Teager was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1931 to Helen (Krajian) Yeni-Komshian (1911-2005) of Aintab and Dr. Hovsep Yeni-Komshian (1895-1994) of Kilis. (Shown at right: Shushan and her mother Helen in 1996.)
Proud of and extremely knowledgeable about her family’s history, Shushan explored her maternal line’s history in the book The Krajians of Aintab (2007), which went beyond the history of her own family to shed considerable light on the larger history of the Aintab region. She also mounted an exhibit on Aintab embroidery at the Armenian Library and Museum of America in 1997 and shared her immense knowledge of Aintab’s Armenian history and culture with many researchers.
| Above: Shushan with Prof. George Bournoutian and Nancy Kolligian, 2009 | Shushan received degrees in Chemistry from Wellesley College (1952) and Chemical Engineering from MIT (1954). Shushan was pre-deceased by her husband, Dr. Herbert M. Teager (1930-1990), MIT faculty member (1959-66) and longtime Professor of Medicine and Chief of Bio-Medical Engineering at the Boston University Medical Center, with whom she worked as a Research Associate. Herbert Teager was a pioneer in the early development of the computer and in the fields of speech production and hearing, particularly how the vocal tract creates sounds and how the brain deciphers them, and the couple worked closely as a team. In 1990 Teager was honored with the award of a Sloan Foundation grant, in recognition of his and Shushan’s innovative work in the speech and hearing sciences, and together they co-authored numerous scientific articles. | In her retirement, Shushan deepened her knowledge of Armenian history, literature, and art, attending classes taught by Prof. James Russell at Harvard University, rarely missing lectures at NAASR, and becoming a dedicated volunteer and invaluable resource at NAASR’s Mardigian Library, where she took a special interest in raising awareness of the collection of hushamadeans (memory books), which contain valuable information about historic Western Armenian cities, towns, and villages lost during the Armenian Genocide. In recognition of her generosity and commitment, the “Hushamadean Room” within NAASR’s Library bears her name. She also wrote a valuable article, “Armenian Women: Lost in Obscurity,” published in the Journal of Armenian Studies, Vol. 7, no. 1 (2003). Her intellectual curiosity and openness to new knowledge was vast. | Shushan with researcher Osman Köker and Marc Mamigonian, 2011 | As an unofficial ambassador for the NAASR Library, Shushan stressed its importance in NAASR Board meetings, scholarly gatherings, and with visitors to the NAASR center, while selflessly offering her own time, knowledge, and fluency in several languages in order to assist researchers. For many visitors to NAASR, their encounters and discussions with Shushan were an indelible part of their experience. | Her influence on the library was profound; her dedication and vision were integral to its increased visibility. She prioritized the organization's mission and its continuation and the preservation of history. For Shushan, everything had to be done perfectly, and it was not just through words but through her consistent work that she brought this to life. The Hushamadean Room is a unique feature of the NAASR library, and from its inception to its realization, Shushan played a key role. She did it not for personal recognition but out of her strong belief in the idea, her love and respect for her ancestors, and, most importantly, for past and future generations—she was a bridge to the future. | Shushan perusing the History of the Armenians of Aintab in her beloved Hushamadean Room at NAASR, 2023 | |
Shushan was a NAASR member since 1984. From 1990-1993, she was a NAASR Board Member and Recording Secretary and served again on the Board from 2005 until her passing. She spoke at NAASR in 1997 about her experience traveling to her ancestral home and other parts of historic Armenia and was the featured speaker at NAASR’s 60th Annual Assembly of Members in 2014, when she presented the illustrated talk “The Krajians of Aintab: A Family Story and a Slice of Armenian History.”
In addition to her dedicated service to NAASR, Shushan Teager also served as Co-chair of the MIT Alumnae Association and Co-chair of the MIT Emma Rogers Society; was an AIWA Charter member, Nominating Committee and Archive Committee member; and a member of the Cultural Committee, St. James Armenian Church.
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She is survived by her siblings, Margo Kaiser, Grace Yeni-Komshian, Haig Yeni-Komshian, and Annie Gubser; her sons, Stephen and Daniel, daughters-in-law Gail Franck and Maria Mahdasian Teager, and her grandchildren Lucinée and Van Teager.
A celebration of life service will be held at the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in Cambridge on Sunday, September 29th at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to NAASR, Holy Trinity Armenian Church, or the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
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