Güllü Agop

Hagop Vartovyan, better known as Güllü Agop, , was an Ottoman Armenian theatre director as well as an occasional actor. He is widely credited with having laid the bases for Turkey's modern and nationally renowned performing arts institution that became the Istanbul City Theatres. In his qualities of organizer, sponsor and figure of support for writers and spectators, Güllü Agop is one of the 19th century pioneers of the Turkish Theatre art as a whole. He was accepted as the founder of the modern Turkish Theatre. As an Ottoman Armenian, Güllü Agop was regularly showing Armenian shows in his theatre; after 1868, he decided to provide regular Turkish shows