Skip to main content

Biography: Armenians in Singapore: Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim)

Image
By

 

Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim), a prominent Singaporean Armenian horticulturist, creator of the first hybrid orchid and the creator of Singapore’s National Flower Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'.
Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim) was born on 7 April 1854, in Singapore. She was the eldest daughter and the second child of Parsick (Basil) Joaquim, an Armenian merchant and commercial agent, and Urelia Joaquim. Agnes was an avid gardener as was her mother. Besides her interest in gardening, Agnes was also an active member of the Armenian Church and a skilled embroiderer.
Agnes Joaquim won prizes at annual flower shows and famously won the prize for the rarest orchid at the 1899 annual flower show. The first prize was for a hybrid that was named after her, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'. Already suffering from cancer at the time, she died three months after receiving this prize.
In 1947, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim' was chosen as the most fitting emblem for the nascent Progressive Party. In 1957 it was chosen as the crest for the Malayan Orchid Society. But in April 1981, came the ultimate accolade. From a field of forty contenders, Vanda Miss Joaquim was selected as the national flower of Singapore.
Agnes Joaquim's siblings were well known in Singapore. Narcis Street was named after her eldest brother Nerses (Narcis, born 2 December 1852). Her brothers, Joe (Joaquim, born 1 April 1856), Seth (born 11 September 1866) and John (17 June 1858) were well-known barristers. Joe was a founder of Braddell and Joaquim, a legal company, before founding his own firm of Joaquim Brothers. Two brothers, Arathoon (2 July 1864), followed by Simon (5 December 1867), served as Deputy Registrar of the Hackney Carriages Department.
Josephine, Agnes Joaquim's grandniece, also has an orchid named after her, Vanda 'Josephine' (also known as Vanda Miss Joaquim 'Josephine').
Hovakimian's maternal grandfather, Isaiah Zachariah, was one of the members of Singapore's first Chamber of Commerce which met in 1837.
Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim) died in Singapore on 2 July 1899.
Joaquim was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2015.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About Venice

By
  1. Venice was built on wooden piles – True. The city is constructed on millions of wooden piles driven into the clay and sand beneath the lagoon. Alder wood, known for its water resistance, was primarily used, along with oak and larch. 2. The wooden piles have petrified over time – Partially true. The piles haven’t literally turned into stone (petrification), but they have become extremely hard. This is because they are submerged in oxygen-poor water, which prevents decay and allows minerals from the water to gradually reinforce the wood. 3. St. Mark’s Campanile stands on 100,000 piles – False. The bell tower is supported by about 10,000 wooden piles, not 100,000. 4. Basilica della Salute required over a million trunks – Likely an exaggeration. The basilica does rest on thousands of piles, but claims of a million are probably inflated. 5. Piles are driven up to three meters deep and spaced half a meter apart – Generally accurate. The depth and spacing vary, but...
Post a Comment
Read more

Various INFORMATION regarding the California Fires - January 2025 via social media

By
Various videos reporting the fires in Los Angeles area on Twitter/X   Updated information Jan 10, 2025: About the Resnicks and shortage of WATER and other manipulations." One billionaire couple owns almost all water in California. The family donates SIGNIFICANTLY to Democratic candidates You won’t believe this, in 2021 they made a huge donation to Gavin Newsom to fight against his recall Lynda and Stewart Resnick own roughly 60% of California's water rights. Some estimates say this could be as high as 75% “They use over 150 billion gallons of water every year” “Water used to be considered a public right, that was until 1994 when there was a secret meeting. These two were in attendance and it was divided up by private interest groups before the 1994 secret meeting.” They’ve been paying off Democrats ever since to keep the scam going and Governor Gavin Newsom is their guy"  =================================== I had a girlfriend mention about “smart cities” and I ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

American businesses now owned by China

By
 https://www.facebook.com/reel/991464093164951 From the above video, extracted information. 1. AMC owned now by China 2. Smithfield acquired by China in 2013 3. GE Appliances owned now by China via Haier in 2016 4. Motorola -> Lenovo 5. Legendary now owned by China since 2016 6. Ingram Micro owned by China since 2016 7. Nexteer 8. Ironman Triathelon 9. Riot Gamer acquired in 2015 10. Fiskar owned by China since 2014 11. Dirt Devil 12. Strategiv Hotels in 2016 13. Cleveland Cavaliers ---------------- Visit our sponsors:  New and gently used bargains at: BaysideLu  https://www.mercari.com/u/user876398605/?sv=0 Handmade gifts at Lucine Designs:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/LucineDesigns Bargain books : Bayside Books  https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/baysidebooks
Post a Comment
Read more