Güllü Agop

Güllü Agop, also known as Agop Vartovyan, was an Ottoman Armenian actor and theatre director who founded the Osmanlı Tiyatrosu at Istanbul’s Gedikpaşa Theatre. He secured a ten-year privilege in 1870 to stage Turkish-language plays in Istanbul, helping establish Turkish theatre as a sustained public institution. His theatre also connected Armenian performers, translated drama, and leading Tanzimat-era writers.