Envin Yohan is believed to have been born in Persia, (now Iran) in 1875. He had left there and emigrated to the United States of America some time before the Great War and settled in Chicago, Illinois, where there was a thriving Persian community and where he worked as a labourer.
By the spring of 1915, however, rumours were flourishing in Chicago that the Turkish rulers in Persia had massacred many of their people at home and some of them consequently decided to return home to see for themselves what had happened.
Therefore, at the end of April 1915, nine of them travelled to New York, where they had booked third cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania across the Atlantic, on the first part of their journey to Persia, which was scheduled to depart at 10 o’clock on 1st Mat 1915.
The others were Benjamin Ameraiof, Abraham Baba, Frank Baba, George Baba, John Jacob Baba, Aziz Ohanis, Nicola Waperalia and Ala Vard Yohan who was possibly Envin Yohan‘s younger brother. Other Persian nationals also joined the vessel from different American cities.
The liner was then late departing from the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York, because she had to embark passengers, cargo and crew, from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned for war work by the British Admiralty at the end of April. The Lusitania eventually got under way just after mid-day and just six days later; she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of southern Ireland. At that time, she was only 250 miles away from her Liverpool destination.
Out of the nine Chicago Persians, only Frank and John Baba and Ala Vard Yohan survived, the rest, including Envin Yohan were killed. As his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 40 years.
After the tragedy, a leader of the Persian community, a Mr. Malik Hatam said of the loss: -
It is a terrible blow to the Persians in Chicago, for on those lost, we depended for news of the wives, mothers and sweethearts imperilled at home.
Cunard records list Envin Yohan under the name Envia Yohama but in the book The Tragedy of the Lusitania, written in 1915, his name is shown, amongst others of the Persian community in Chicago, to have been as stated above.
Cunard Records, Tragedy of the Lusitania, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Stuart Williamson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.