Antoine Sevrugin

Antoine Sevruguin was the court photographer of the Persian ruler Nasser ed-Din Shah (1848-1896). He is considered the founder of artistic photography in Persia. For his services to Persia, Sevruguin was awarded the title of "Khan" by the Shah and was awarded the diamond medal "Shir o Khorshid" (Persian: lion and sun).

Antoine Khan Sevruguin was born in 1851 in Tehran. Being a native of that environment and a bearer of its culture, he was always connected to Persia and the Persian people. Antoine's father, Vasily Sevruguin, was educated at the Lazarian Seminary in Moscow, and then entered the civil service at the Russian Embassy in Tehran. His mother, Achon, was of ancient Tiflis Armenian descent. There were seven children in the family. Like many Russian-Armenian state and political figures, Vasily also changed his Armenian surname to Sevruguin. This is probably where the uncertainty and confusion in the sources about Antoine Sevruguin's Armenian origin comes from: he is considered Russian, Georgian, Persian and even French. Later, Antoine's son, Andre, re-Armenianized the Sevruguin surname using the particle "yan". Antoine Sevruguin studied photography in Tiflis under the famous Russian photographer Dmitry Yermakov (1845-1916). In the 1870s, Antoine went to Persia with his two brothers and a group of friends to start his career. Having settled in the city of Tabriz, Antoine was able to open his own studio, which quickly gained great fame, also ensuring his entry into the court. With a camera in hand, he constantly traveled and created numerous photographs during his travels. His works mainly include entire series of photographs of archaeological and historical sites, as well as wandering dervishes, sufis, and ordinary people.

Sevruguin participated in numerous international competitions and won first prizes and medals at exhibitions organised in Brussels (1897), Paris (1900), and in a number of cities in Russia and Austria.

Antoine married Louisa (Elizabeth) Gurguenian, a Tehran-Armenian, and had seven children. Their son, André, later became a famous painter, known by the nickname “Darvish".

Antoine Khan died in Tehran in 1933 at the age of 82. His remains rest in the Russian cemetery in Tehran, in the family mausoleum.