BILLERICA, Mass. — A little effort going a very long way is being seen in the tiny Armenian village of Arpunq, thanks in part to the financial generosity of the late Ararat Asbed Robert “Bob” Semonian from Ararat Lodge No. 1. A $10,000 donation from a trust established by Bob Semonian, who passed away in 2016, is being used to help bring pristine running water to a remote village near the southern shores of Lake Sevan, replacing on old, inoperative Soviet era asbestos pipe.
From left, Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, Leon Semonian and state Rep. David Muradian
Arpunq has some 120 homes with a population of about 660 people. The project was spearheaded by Asbed John Peterson of Ararat Lodge No. 1 and Clayton Carlisle, both members of the Billerica, Massachusetts Rotary Club. They both addressed the members of Ararat Lodge No. 1 and Arpie Otyag No. 9 at their January 14 dinner in Watertown. It is the Billerica Rotary Club that requested and received a Global Grant from Rotary International for the project, whose total cost is $52,000.
Asbed John Peterson, of the Billerica Rotary Club approached Asbed Leon Semonian, co- trustee of his brother Bob’s estate, along with Paul Semonian, Bob’s nephew, for assistance. They agreed to donate $10,000 of the $17,000 local contribution required by Rotary International, which triggered the Rotary’s matching contribution to complete funding for the project.
The pipeline is the only source of water for the village, running some two and a half miles both above and below ground. It feeds water faucets that are located outside of the modest homes. There is no indoor plumbing in Arpunq, which means that all toilet facilities are also outdoors in the form of outhouses. Other uses for the grant money include roofing of the local school, family bedding at a cost of $50 per bed, and bee hives for a number of families.
At the January Knights and Daughters dinner, Asbed Leon Semonian was honored for his generosity by Lodge and Otyag members as well as Asbed and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and David Muradian, Republican of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives.
Koutoujian thanked Leon and Paul Semonian for their generosity and then presented Leon with a proclamation from his department, acknowledging their philanthropy.
Muradian also presented a proclamation citing the generosity of the Semonians on behalf of the people of Massachusetts. Leon Semonian then took a moment to thank those who had honored him, saying that his late brother Bob would have been very proud of what was being done in Armenia with his Trust funds and pleased to have played a small role in making it happen.
NEW YORK — In his role as leader of the Eastern Diocese, the Very. Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan began the Diocesan Primate’s annual New Year’s visits to regional Armenian institutions. On Friday, January 11, he traveled to the Hovnanian School in New Milford, NJ, and the Armenian Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Emerson, NJ. On January 17, he visited the Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School (HMADS) in Bayside, NY.
The Primate with students at the Hovnanian School
As part of each visit, the Diocesan Primate officiated over the Home Blessing service, traditionally performed at the start of the New Year. Students at both the Hovnanian School and HMADS sang, recited poems, and spent time talking with and learning from the Primate.
At the Armenian Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, residents spoke with the Primate and received his blessing. The Primate met with members of the staff of both institutions and discussed their recent accomplishments.
Accompanying Findikyan on his various visits were Fr. Diran Bohajian, Fr. Daniel Karadjian, Fr. Abraham Malkhasyan, Fr. Arakel Vardazaryan, Dn. Arman Galstyan, and Dn. Eric Vozzy.
WASHINGTON — On Sunday January 27, after the divine liturgy, the Office of the Military Attaché of the Armenian Embassy in the US celebrated the 27th anniversary of the Armenian Army at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church.
During the celebration, Ambassador Varuzhan Nersesyan, Military Attaché Colonel Armand Mghrdchyan and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian spoke about the importance of having a strong and brave army for the defense of the motherland and Artsakh.
During the Divine Liturgy, a requiem service was offered for the souls of Armenian freedom fighters and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom and liberation of the homeland.
YEREVAN – For a birder (or bird-watcher, as many people know us), nothing beats the thrill of seeing a species in the wild that you have never seen before. It’s even better if you have the opportunity to do it in Armenia.
This year, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which has been offering birding tours worldwide for over 50 years, is offering a birding tour to Armenia for the first time, and has openings available. The trip is scheduled for September 15-29, 2019, a 2-week period that allows for seeing many of the 350+ species documented in Armenia, including migrating birds from Europe and Asia. The itinerary includes stops along the Ararat Plain, Lake Sevan, Dilijan, the Selim Pass, Noravank Canyon, Gndasar, Meghri and Shvanidzor (along the Iranian border), Goris, Tatev, Jermuk, Garni and Geghard, and Mount Aragats.
While this trip is primarily for seeing birds and nature in Armenia, cultural and historic sites will be included. The group will be accompanied by a local Armenian guide knowledgeable about the birds of the area as well as a Mass Audubon guide. Each day will start early in order to see the most birds, and will include walking 1-2 miles on most days.
Birds native to Armenia
I personally had the chance in October 2017 to spend 8 days birding in Armenia with local Armenian guides and a driver, arranged by Dr. Karen Aghababyan, executive director of TSE – Towards Sustainable Ecosystems NGO, who also worked with Mass Audubon on the arrangements for the upcoming trip. The excitement of birding in full view of Mount Ararat or Noravank Monastery (designated an Important Bird Area, or IBA by BirdLife International) is indescribable. But just as meaningful can be a visit to ignored and depopulated villages such as Vanand near Sardarapat, where we picked up a second guide, Veelen Minasyan, a village resident whose whole family had moved to Russia for work. As a local expert for his area, he was able to take us to a favorite spot of the uncommon Black-bellied Sandgrouse, where our presence attracted the interest of local elderly men who were surprised to see visitors, armed with binoculars and spotting scopes, who had come merely to see a gamebird.
As ecotourism develops in Armenia, it can contribute to improving the economy, particularly in less developed rural areas, and thereby also strengthen support for policies that protect Armenia’s natural treasures.
For more information and to book a reservation on Mass Audubon’s September 2019 birding tour of Armenia, contact the Mass Audubon travel office by phone at 800-289-9504 or email travel@massaudubon.org. The travel itinerary is available on their website at https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/travel-tours/upcoming-tours. A minimum number of participants will be needed by the end of March to proceed with the trip.
NEW YORK — Nerses “Krik” Krikorian was 4-years-old when he first stepped on US soil. Born on the side of a Turkish road in 1921 as his parents were fleeing the Armenian Genocide, his family spent the next four years moving from country to country with only the clothes on their backs. On the way, his brother was born in Aleppo, Syria.
Canada became their final refuge. The family finally found its American home in Niagara Falls, NY, when Krik was 4, his father becoming a factory worker, and his mother a homemaker after having their youngest child.
He remembered many years later, that all that moving from place to place was a “tortured way of living, because you don’t belong anywhere.”
With such bleak beginnings, Krikorian’s future seemed anything but promising. From age 4 to 96, when he died in Los Alamos, NM, his story is anything if not amazing. He was one of the most famed scientists and intelligence analysts in America, having been a major player on the Los Alamos Manhattan Project which eventually created the first nuclear weapon.
His first job was at Union Carbide in 1943, following a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. The lab made highly enriched uranium. He was, however, unaware that he was ensconced in the Manhattan Project which dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima.
He said at the time, “Well, the war is going to end. And I hope we never have to use it again for any purpose.”
After the war, Union Carbide cut down its uranium work, and he went to New Mexico to continue working on the Manhattan project.
Many years later, when his father visited him, he mentioned to Krik that the rugged mountains and dry climate of New Mexico reminded him of the old country. Krik felt that “deep down, maybe I had some connection to it that I didn’t even remember.”
It was also at Los Alamos that he met his wife, Katherine Patterson, who had also come in 1943 to work on the Manhattan Project as a member of the Women’s Army Corps.
There, they raised their only child, Debra, now a retired Army lieutenant colonel.
Armenian Ties
And so began an illustrious career for Krik that spanned four and a half decades. It was in 1972, when he was asked to join an intelligence unit, though he didn’t know why. He suspected that the reason also included the fact that he spoke fluent Armenian and some Russian.
As a child, his parents had forced him to speak and write Armenian, as well as to learn the history, culture and literature of Armenia.
“As a kid, I thought it was useless,” he remembered. Why do I need to learn a language that hardly anyone speaks. I guess God knew what was coming.”
In the 1960s he had to translate Russian chemistry books into English. This information became very useful to the US government at the time.
“I’m an American,” he said. Feeling a deep commitment to America’s national security, he felt that the intelligence analysts were all motivated to keep the peace. “I feel obligated to this country. Look at what I have been able to accomplish here.”
Krik was always amazed that as a boy he had arrived in this country with papers that labeled him as “stateless,” and could rise to a position of security head for a US intelligence unit.
As the holder of six patents, Krik retired in 1991 after receiving countless honors, including the Los Alamos Medallion (its highest award), two honorary doctorates, the CIA’s Intelligence Community Medal, and in 2005, election as an honorary Doctor to Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences.
Recently, Krik’s daughter, Debra, in a telephone conversation, reminisced about her father’s strong link to his heritage. “My father felt strongly about his Armenian background. He was fluent in both modern and liturgical Armenian, and could read and write.”
Grandson of Genocide Survivors
She revealed that her grandparents suffered during the Genocide, with her grandmother’s immediate family all killed. Her grandfather’s brothers split, with the eldest moving to Canada, and the other brother going to Yerevan.
“My grandparents apparently masqueraded as Kurds during a portion of this odyssey as both were fluent in Kurdish. They never spoke to me about the Genocide,” Debra remembers.
She relates that when her father moved to New Mexico, there were very few Armenians, but in the 1950s and 1960s, a group of about 60 came together. “When I was a child we would get together with these families frequently even though it was 100 miles each way to see each other. During the 1980’s there were enough to establish a cultural organization as well as an Armenian church which my parents supported.”
She recalls that her father often read Armenian poetry, history and philosophy, and translated many writings “which he left to me. During the last days before his passing, he reverted to speaking Armenian and spoke to several of his Armenian friends. In short, he went back to his Armenian roots.”
Krikorian had opportunities to go to Armenia in the 1990s, first at the request of the US State Department to assist and engage with the scientists there. Later he visited and assisted through the audits of scientific projects funded through the International Science and Technology Center.
During these visits, he also happily met his relatives there. It was his wife “who had the heart and soul of an Armenian” who first went to Armenia in 1979, and found his relatives who still keep in contact with Debra to this day.
A scientist “in soul and heart,” Krikorian had been regularly contributing to one of the most effective Diasporan projects supporting cutting-edge research and development in Armenia — the Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF), run by the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) in New York City.
Following his personal wishes, a special endowment fund was established at FAR by his daughter after his death. Its goal is to perpetually support young researchers in universities in Armenia.
In a 2017 interview, Krikorian reflected, “things have worked out far beyond what I ever imagined. I think of my parents, and wonder, ‘How did they ever do it.’ My parents instilled in me the importance of doing the right thing and giving back to your fellow man. I hope I have done that.”
GLENDALE — Internationally renowned nuclear physicist Dr. Yuri Oganesyan, the only living person on the periodic table of elements, was honored for his lifetime achievements by the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA) during its 35th anniversary gala at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles on Saturday, January 19.
The academician, who is scientific director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, is considered the world’s leading researcher in super heavy chemical elements. It was with his significant achievements in mind that the AESA bestowed upon him the Victor Harmbartsumyan Award, named after the legendary astrophysicist, and given to engineer and scientists of Armenian descent to recognize their technical excellence and contributions to their fields and to the greater community.
In an exclusive interview (aided by translator Dr. Gagik Melikyan, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University, Northridge), Oganesyan said he was “honored” to receive the Victor Hambardzumyan Award that is named after a “prominent astrophysicist” whose work he respects.
Dr. Oganesyan Photo credit: Frederick Melikian
Throughout his accomplished career, Oganesyan focused his research on nuclear reactions, synthesis of new elements of the periodic table, and investigation of their properties that led to the discovery of six elements in the periodic table, one of which, element 118 (Oganesson, Og 118) was named after him in 2016 by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
His humility shone through when he explained the logistics and unwritten rules of how elements receive their names. He noted that they can be locations of where the element was discovered, such as Berkeley or Dubna, or after the scientists who discovered them “as a way to immortalize them.”
A graduate of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Oganesyan was raised by an engineer father who worked for Yerevan’s City Council and by a mother who always encouraged his abilities in the math and sciences. He initially aspired to become an architect, the course of his studies changed when he was awarded a gold medal (valedictorian) in high school for his academic excellence. Because of this accolade, Oganesyan was automatically admitted to any school of his choice without entrance exams and decided to pursue physics, a field he has dominated for more than 60 years.
He explained what excites him about his work in the sciences is that “it’s difficult to anticipate what is next because anything can change unexpectedly.”
John-Emannuel Shirajian presents Dr. Oganesyan with the Victor Harmbartsumyan Award and plaque Photo credit: Frederick Melikian
He observes that the sciences are an important field “for any nation” but emphasized Armenia’s dominance during Soviet times as the “most scientifically developed country in the Soviet Union.”
“It was popular among the youth and the academic institutions were very developed and recognized, not only in the Soviet Union, but around the world as well,” said Oganesyan, who noted the “huge scientific potential” of Armenia. “Even on the genetic level, there is a scientific tradition passed down from parents to their children and it is very important that it carries on from one generation to the other.”
FLNR, where Oganesyan is the scientific director, has served as the center for nuclear research in the Soviet Union for almost a century.
He expressed his appreciation to the AESA for inviting him to the United States.
“I’m very glad I’m here,” said Oganesyan, who has authored 800 scientific papers. “This is my first visit to Los Angeles and it is quite an interesting and fascinating atmosphere where I am surrounded by so many Armenians.”
Senator Anthony Portantino presenting a certificate of recognition to Dr. Oganesyan Photo credit: Frederick Melikian
During the afternoon’s press conference, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan congratulated Oganesyan, who has received the highest honors in the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, including the USSR State Prize and the Russian Federation National Award, as well as the Lise Meitner Prize of the European Physical Society, and the Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia, among many other notable awards.
“We give great importance to the development of science and technology in Armenia,” said Harutyunyan. “The network between Armenia and the Diaspora in science and engineering is very important to us and we want this network to be part of a new scientific agenda in Armenia.”
Oganesyan has been a longtime advocate of advancing the sciences in Armenia and stressed his Armenian heritage and strong ties to the country.
“I am Armenian and I always say I am Armenian,” said Oganesyan, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences. “A decade ago I gathered the 10 most prominent scientists from around world and I told them to look at the potential and what can be done in Armenia.”
Oganesyan explained that during their research, they uncovered that the oncology death rate was high in Armenia and they set out to discover why.
“We asked ourselves if it was a curse or if it was something else,” said Oganesyan. “We realized that diagnostic tests were missing and we identified a priority area to create scientific centers.”
In the years that followed, Oganesyan developed the National Center of Excellence of Oncology in Yerevan as well as the establishment of the A. I. Alikhanian National Science Laboratory Center for Isotope Production and Diagnostics.
He maintains a close relationship to Armenia and supports the flourishing of the sciences there, along with the assistance of the AESA.
“It is really meaningful to have Dr. Oganesyan with us as we celebrate our 35th anniversary,” said John-Emmanuel Shirajian, president of AESA, in an exclusive interview. “We are extremely honored and proud that he came and accepted our invitation.”
The non-profit organization seeks to advance, promote, and disseminate science and technology in Armenia and the Diaspora by encouraging technical and entrepreneurial interactions among Armenian scientists and engineers around the globe.
“Our mission is to be useful to our local community, the youth, as well as scientists in Armenia and Artsakh,” said Shirajian.
Annually, the AESA organizes a Science Olympiad for Armenian schools in Los Angeles, along with curating lectures on science, engineering, and technology. The non-sectarian organization also offers scholarships, funds and undertakes projects in science and engineering in Armenia. Its most recent focus has been directed towards nation building by championing the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Specific projects the AESA has undertaken to benefit Armenia include establishing mobile science labs in the Noyemberyan region so students can receive hands-on experience in physics, chemistry and mathematics.
“It is so important that we give the knowledge of science and math to a new generation,” said Shirajian. “We should cooperate with students and scientists in Armenia because while they are talented, sometimes they lack the resources we have.”
Celebrating AESA Goals
The evening’s gala was a sold-out affair with more than 350 guests, as scientists, engineers, professionals and friends and supporters of AESA gathered to celebrate this milestone. The festive occasion was filled with culture and showcased the Armenian brain power and dedication to its heritage, including live performances by Nune Avetisyan, Grand Stage Dance, PRIMA and Nectar at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles.
Dignitaries included Consul-General Armen Baibourtian, PhD, as well as Minister of Education Harutyunyan, who were representing Armenia; California State Sen. Anthony Portantino and Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, who presented Certificates of Recognition to Oganesyan.
Proceeds from the gala were earmarked towards three symbolic projects in Armenia: setting up mobile science labs for students, providing potable water dispensaries and delivering vital medicine to families in Armenia.
The AESA has indeed thrived throughout its history and has brought the significance of science to the forefront as it continues to benefit Armenia and the Diasporan communities. The organization has certainly fulfilled the vision of Dr. Hagop Panossian and Dr. Stepan Simonian when they sought to create a worldwide Armenian scientific institution in the 1970s. The AESA has come a long way since its first official meeting in June 1983 in Burbank and currently boasts a wide network of talented professionals who are looking towards the future as they develop programs relevant and beneficial to Armenia.
“Organizations like AESA that have a STEM based value system, professionalism, and global reach can and must play a central role in catapulting Armenia and the diaspora towards a brighter future,” said Richard Ohanian, the current vice president and president-elect. “We strive to empower scientists, technologists, engineers and professionals in Armenia and the Diaspora to realize their full potential and impact the Armenian nation, state and the world.”
The significance of upholding science and engineering, particularly in Armenia, is of significance to Shirajian and the AESA, as it serves as the basis of society.
“If you don’t have science, you don’t have industry, if you don’t have industry, you don’t have economy and if you don’t have economy, you don’t have a country,” said Shirajian. “Science and math are the foundation of any country.”
For more information about AESA and its upcoming projects, visit https://aesa.org/
GLENDALE — The Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter hosted a program titled “Vladimir Yengibaryan: Gold Medal Winning Armenian Boxing Legend” on January 25, at the Glendale Central Library. Avetis Bairamian, sports editor of Nor Or Weekly and author of Armenian language publications, Famous Armenians in the World of Sports and Armenian Sports Encyclopedia, served as the keynote speaker and presented the fascinating life of Vladimir Yengibaryan.
Mihran Toumajan served as the program’s master of ceremonies and explained that one of the goals of the program was to continue a campaign for Yengibaryan to become an eligible candidate for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. Yengibaryan’s eligibility would become possible upon the establishment of an “Amateur Section” at the Hall of Fame. Toumajan also made specific references to Armenian Americans throughout the 20th century who made notable contributions to boxing in the United States, including Lud Shabazian of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, who was a boxing writer and cartoonist. Shabazian was also one of many who participated in the organizational work which led to the building of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral in New York.
Keynote speaker Avetis Bairamian
Toumajan also highlighted the work of Ed Derian, a prominent boxing ring announcer and member of the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame. Also referenced were two Armenian Americans from Massachusetts, including Dr. Nishan Kechejian of Brockton, the personal physician for Hall of Fame middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler, and Haroutune “Harry” Bilazarian of Boylston, a successful boxer in the late 1940s, who happened to be defeated by legendary boxing champion Rocky Marciano in Providence, RI in 1948.
Following Toumajan’s opening remarks, Varazdat Pahlavuni, counselor of the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, addressed the audience on behalf of the Consulate. In his remarks, Pahlavuni emphasized that Vladimir Yengibaryan was synonymous with “greatness,” in light of his gold medal winning performance at the Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia in 1956, which elated Armenians around the world. Pahlavuni concluded his remarks by praising Yengibaryan’s service to the Armenian nation, not only as an athlete, but also as a coach.
From left, Talene Hachikian, Taleen Babayan, Armand Yerjanian, Carl Bardakian, Knarik Yengibaryan, Artur Aleksanyan, Counselor Varazdat Pahlavuni, Mihran Toumajan, Parsegh Kartalian
Upon the completion of Pahlavuni’s remarks, Toumajan read the biography of keynote speaker Bairamian, and invited him to the podium. Bairamian mentioned that Yengibaryan was born in Yerevan in 1932 and made special note of the significance of his birthday being on April 24. Bairamian spoke of Yengibaryan’s prolific career, having retired with a record of 255 wins and 12 losses. Yengibaryan was a three-time European champion (1953, 1957 and 1959) and three-time Soviet champion (1955, 1956 and 1958). Bairamian listed many of Yengibaryan’s noteworthy accomplishments, including his earning of a gold medal for the U.S.S.R. in the light welterweight (-63.5 kg) category at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Yengibaryan, considered the most prominent Soviet boxer of the 1950s, was the first Soviet boxer to become a European champion. After his retirement, Yengibaryan served as an international boxing referee and judge. Bairamian stressed in his presentation that Yengibaryan was the second gold medalist from Soviet Armenia after Hrant Shahinyan won two gold medals four years earlier in gymnastics at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki in 1952. Bairamian praised Yengibaryan for being a great patriot and national hero of the Armenian people. Bairamian also emphasized the importance of Yengibaryan as a prominent boxing coach, who developed and trained several generations of Armenian youth in the sport of boxing until his death on February 1, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Upon the completion of Bairamian’s speech, Toumajan expressed the Tekeyan Cultural Association’s gratitude to Artur “the White Bear” Aleksanyan of Gyumri, seated in the front row, for his attendance at the presentation in posthumous honor of Vladimir Yengibaryan. Aleksanyan won a gold medal in the sport of Greco-Roman Wrestling for the Republic of Armenia at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. Toumajan recounted the significance for Armenians throughout the globe, when, during the medal ceremony, the humble and patriotic Aleksanyan wore a t-shirt with the image of hero Robert Abajyan, a junior sergeant who, along with over 100 fellow Armenian soldiers, sacrificed his life for the defense of Artsakh during the April 2016 Four-Day War initiated by Azerbaijan.
Olympic gold medalist Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan
The program continued with Carl Bardakian, chairman of the Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter, offering remarks and indicating that Yengibaryan is, indisputably, one of the most important figures in Armenian sports history. Bardakian highlighted that, albeit representing the best of Armenians in different sport categories, the torch for Armenian athletic excellence has been passed from 20t-century Olympic gold medalist Yengibaryan to 21st-century Olympic gold medalist Aleksanyan. Bardakian emphasized that the passing of this torch should serve as inspiration to all athletically serious Armenian youth — be they in Armenia, Artsakh, or in the diaspora — to become the next Yengibaryan or Aleksanyan in their chosen sport. Bardakian concluded his remarks by referencing a historic photo of Yengibaryan with Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, Vasken I, and mentioned how Yengibaryan would often travel to Holy Echmiadzin before his boxing matches, in order to receive a blessing from Catholicos Vasken I.
Bardakian warmly welcomed Knarik Yengibaryan, the widow of the honoree. Mrs. Yengibaryan graciously thanked the Tekeyan Cultural Association for organizing the program in posthumous honor of her husband. She recounted Vladimir Yengibaryan’s deep patriotism to his nation, as well as his devotion to the sport of boxing. The Yengibaryans were blessed with four children and several grandchildren, with many of the latter in attendance to hear about their remarkable grandfather.
Next, Toumajan introduced Nazo Ayranjyan, a prominent boxing coach and referee originally from Vanadzor. Currently the owner of Nazo Boxing in North Hollywood, California, a boxing supplies manufacturer, Ayranjyan presented Knarik Yengibaryan and keynote speaker Bairamian with custom-made souvenir boxing gloves dedicated to Vladimir Yengibaryan’s gold medal performance at the Summer Olympics in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia.
Toumajan concluded the program by thanking attendees and particularly the Yengibaryan family, who joined the Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro Los Angeles Chapter to remember and posthumously honor the legendary Yengibaryan.
WATERTOWN — On Monday, March 4, there will be a St. James Armenian Church Men’s Club dinner meeting at the St. James Charles Mosesian Cultural and Youth Center. The speaker will be Dick Flavin, an American poet known as the poet laureate of the Boston Red Sox. He is also the team’s public address announcer and a former journalist, TV commentator, and playwright.
Flavin was born in Boston and grew up in Quincy. He became the press spokesman for the Massachusetts State Democratic Committee in 1963 and a speechwriter for several politicians, including the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. He went on to become press secretary for the president of the Massachusetts Senate and, in 1967, for the successful campaign of Kevin White for mayor of Boston. In 1970, Flavin left politics for reporting. He became political editor and reporter for WNAC-TV in Boston before moving to WBZ-TV in 1973 where he spent 14 years as a commentator. It was while at WBZ that he was nominated for 14 New England Regional Emmy Awards, winning 7 times. His work as a broadcaster was honored in 2011 with his induction into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
On the creative side, Flavin’s one-man play, “According to Tip,” was produced at Boston’s Repertory Theatre in 2008. The play captured both the public and private life of Tip O’Neill, the Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives. It was awarded “Best New Play of the Year” by the critics and writers that make up the Independent Reviewers of new England.
Most notably, Flavin is the New York Times bestselling author of Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses, a collection of 64 humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox.
This St. James Men’s Club dinner meeting will begin with a social hour and mezza at 6:15 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Ladies Invited.
The Charles Mosesian Cultural and Youth Center – Keljik Hall is located at 465 Mt. Auburn St.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — This year the Armenian Heritage Cruise (AHC) took place January 20 to January 27, 2019 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. The AHC Committee honored the Knights and Daughters of Vartan by providing time to present a program during the cruise.
Members of the Knights and Daughters leadership in attendance were Grand Commander Dr. Gary Zamanigian, Grand Matron Diana Tookmanian, Past Grand Commander Bob Barsam and Past Grand Matron Sona Manuelian. Special guests included Archbishop Khoren Toghramadjian, Prelate of Cypus, and Prof. Taner Akçam, author of The Killing Orders – Talaat Pasha’s Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide.
Dr. Gary Zamanigian
AHC Cruise Committee Member Past Matron Barbara Haroutunian introduced Barsam, who served as master of ceremonies (MC) in his usual grand style. The program began with a prayer offered by Toghramadjian. Barsam first introduced Akçam, who thanked the Knights of Vartan by stating, “My book which provides undeniable proof that the intent of the Young Turks was to exterminate the Armenian people could not have been published without the financial support of the Knights of Vartan.”
Next to speak was Zamanigian, who began by reminding the audience of the principles and values of the Knights of Vartan and he articulated the three major periods over its 103 years of existence. Zamanigian proceeded to give an animated Power Point Presentation about the Knights of Vartan “Mission III Veratarts Hayrenik Trip to Armenia” September 16 to September 23, 2018, which was prepared by the Knights of Vartan Communications Office Liaison in Armenia Gohar Palyan.
Bob Barsam
Zamanigian concluded his remarks by saying, “With the past as our teacher, we Armenians learned quickly that we have to defend ourselves, our land, our cherished Christian Faith and our treasured traditions.”
Following the Grand Commander, Barsam asked Grand Matron Diana Tookmanian to say a few words. She presented a detailed history of the Daughters of Vartan and informed everyone about all the projects supported by Otyags (chapters) throughout the United States and Armenia. Members of the Knights and Daughters of Vartan were then invited to introduce themselves and talk about their chapters’ projects.
Immediately following the program, the AHC Committee invited everyone to a private elegant ocean view luncheon which ended of course with the group singing Armenian songs.
YEREVAN/BOSTON — There is nothing more heartrending than the sight of children suffering. One of the plagues children face everywhere is cancer. In Armenia, their affliction is made worse due to the lack of resources that are more readily available in the West. American Armenians who came face to face with this difficult situation could not but take action. Now they in turn reach out to the broader community in an effort to create a future in which Armenian children get the same level of treatment as in the United States. On April 5, an evening at the Westin Waltham Hotel featuring Anna Hakobyan, Honorary Chair of the City of Smile Charitable Foundation and spouse of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, will give the public the opportunity to support this vital humanitarian cause.
Today, children in Armenia with cancer primarily come to the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic in Yerevan for treatment. Amazingly, treatment is completely free. Children from Artsakh and Javakhk also come here, and even occasionally non-Armenian children from other places. Despite the successes that have been achieved until now by dedicated staff fighting heavy odds, there are many difficulties that this clinic and the medical system in Armenia must overcome in order to provide treatment on a level and scale parallel to that offered in Western countries.
Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan, a pediatric oncologist and hematologist at the Muratsan Clinic and Muratsan Hospital in Yerevan, who is also an associate professor of oncology at Yerevan State Medical University, explained that pediatric cancer was a fatal disease in the Soviet era in Armenia. In 1993, Dr. Samvel Danielyan, who had studied and worked in Moscow, returned to Armenia to change this situation, and became the founder of modern pediatric oncology there.
Danielyan started using German protocols for treatment, and because the necessary drugs were not available, initiated the creation of the Help for Armenia foundation in Germany with the aid of German colleagues and philanthropists to obtain drugs for pediatric leukemia. He began to find ways for the professional development of Armenian doctors, who were sent to Europe, Russia and the United States.
The survival rate of children with pediatric leukemia rose from the initial 0-5 percent to 65 percent, and now it is more than 70 percent. Danielyan eventually left his post at the Prof. R. H. Yolyan Hematology Center of the Armenian Ministry of Health in Yerevan and created the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic, connected to the Muratsan Hospital of Yerevan State Medical University, in 2008. The Muratsan Clinic treats almost all pediatric solid tumors in Armenia at the present, along with the majority of lymphomas and some leukemias. The clinic treats both children and adult patients with different types of oncological and hematological disorders. Many new types of treatment were started at this clinic which were not originally available in Armenia, with some of the results published formally.
There is no other clinic for children in Armenia in the private or public sectors. Yerevan State Medical University supports the clinic, which belongs to the Muratsan Hospital complex of the university. This means that there is an educational component of its activities, with students, fellows and research.
All of the doctors working at the clinic receive some training abroad and there is ongoing collaboration with different institutions around the world. The clinic also organizes conferences and meetings in Armenia. Last November, together with the Armenian Association of Hematology and Oncology, it hosted the joint master class of European School of Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This was the first time not only in Armenia but in the world that these two major cancer organizations joined together for such a program.
However, treatment of pediatric cancers is still done in a fragmented way in Armenia. The Hematology Center treats the majority of pediatric leukemias. Stem cell transplantation is done there, along with treatment of benign blood disorders. The National Oncology Center has the only radiation therapy unit in the country, so if radiation is required children must go there. There are also several other hospitals like Surb Astvatsamayr Hospital in Yerevan with surgical facilities that handle specific types of procedures.
One of the goals for pediatric chemotherapy, Dr. Tamamyan said, is to centralize the care.
The Muratsan Clinic receives some funding from the state and the university, and the remainder from philanthropic institutions. There are a number of major challenges that it faces. It lacks equipment, ranging from infusion pumps to monitors.
There is no family housing for family members who want to be with their children during treatment but live far away. There are no palliative care services or rooms, so that children die at home in pain and suffering, Tamamyan said.
Cancer registries which would allow a better understanding of the problems and challenges in Armenia are lacking. Population-based registries collect basic data to understand the baseline state of cancer in Armenia, including the types of cancers and the age they appear in the Armenian population. Hospital-based registries collect information to give an overview of toxic deaths, including what the causes are, the outcomes of treatments and specific regimens, and give clues as to what measures need to be changed. At present, a collaboration is being initiated with St. Jude Children’s Hospital to create a registry.
Obtaining medications can be difficult. They have primarily been supplied as donations by charitable foundations, and up until getting them has been one of the clinic’s primary goals. Last month the Armenian Ministry of Health announced that it will procure essential ones on the World Health Organization list starting this year. However, Tamamyan said, there are many other drugs not on this list which are expensive and used by patients in clinical trials which do not exist in Armenia. It will take many steps to bring clinical trials to Armenia.
Brain drain of the clinic’s staff is a challenge. There are ten doctors and at present five fellows with three-year terms. Tamamyan said that low salaries (on average $300-400 monthly at present depending on the number of night shifts) and other challenges lead many doctors and nurses to leave Armenia. However, after the Velvet Revolution, some people returned, and there is hope this will continue. The goal is to be able to give a normal salary for everyone.
Aside from the aforementioned challenges, the major goal of the clinic is to be able to turn it into such a comprehensive pediatric center that not only will Armenian patients choose not to go abroad for treatment but also patients from neighboring countries will come to get care there. There are a few sporadic instances of this even now. For example, there is a patient from Iran receiving treatment at present. As with Armenian patients, his treatment is free. Tamamyan said, “Cancer does not recognize religion, race, or nationality, so we will treat any child who comes to our clinic as much as we can.”
The size of the clinic at present is not large. It can treat 26 children at any one time, and there are also a lot of adult patients. Half of the children are from the provinces outside of Yerevan. There are also some ten to twenty other children who come and go for maintenance therapy.
Additional outside resources are necessary to sustain the current number of doctors and nurses. However, at present, there are efforts underway to merge the pediatric cancer clinic with the hematology center. This along with additional outside help would allow increasing the number of doctors, nurses and psychologists, hire new specialists like nutritionists and set up a palliative care unit.
In order to help raise funds for this work, the City of Smile Foundation (www.cityofsmile.org) was established in 2014 by Drs. Gevorg Tamamyan and Lilit Sargsyan.
Patients at the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic
Boston Armenians Become Aware, Take Action
Meanwhile, the Boston-Armenian community’s connection with Muratsan happened in various ways. When Tamamyan was visiting Boston for a Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center training program at the end of 2015, he stayed at Holy Trinity Armenian Church’s parish house in Cambridge. When the church organized a trip to Armenia in 2016, a group of parishioners, including Cynthia Kazanjian, her husband Richard and her 10-year-old grandson Vaughn Krikorian, visited Muratsan along with Fr. Vasken Kouzouian and his wife. (See https://mirrorspectator.com/2017/11/24/muratsan-oncology-clinic-doctors-visit-boston-area/ and https://mirrorspectator.com/2017/09/14/local-group-raises-funds-childrens-cancer-clinic-armenia/)
The effect of seeing the children stricken with cancer was profound and led young Vaughn to ask what could be done to improve their situation.
Upon returning, Cynthia, who had already seen the toll taken by cancer among her own family members, together with others was able to make an arrangement with Dana Farber Global Health Initiatives to ensure that 90 percent of funds raised through the annual Jimmy Fund Walk would be sent to Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic in Armenia. She went back several more times to Armenia to try to help. Meanwhile, the Jimmy Fund walkers and some auxiliary events raised money in 2016 and 2017. Even Kazanjian’s grandsons helped in this.
Patients at the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic
Zareh Zurabyan was inspired by Kazanjian’s work to organize with friends a brandy-tasting fundraiser in December 2016 with the support of the Knights of Vartan at the Armenian American Social Club (Papken Suni Agoump) in Watertown.
Kazanjian tirelessly spread awareness of the situation of Armenian children with cancer. When Fr. Mampre Kouzouian visited Armenia in 2017, Kazanjian asked him to visit the clinic. He was so moved by what he saw that he decided to donate half of whatever gifts people would give him at the May 2018 60th anniversary celebration of his ordination to the City of Smile Foundation via Catholicos Karekin II in Echmiadzin.
Further efforts of Kazanjian and others in the Boston area led to another substantial sum being raised and sent to City of Smile for Muratsan by means of the Armenian Missionary Association of America, which did not charge anything for this transmittal service. The AMAA first investigated the project and accepted it as legitimate and worthwhile.
The total raised by all these efforts in the Boston area and sent to Muratsan over three years is approximately $175,000.
Another important component fell into place with New Paths-Bridging Armenian Women, an online networking group, co-founded by Armine Hovhannissian and Rosalyn Minassian. In the summer of 2017 Kazanjian asked Hovhannissian, going to Armenia on summer vacation, to take some scarfs for some young women in the clinic who had lost their hair. Hovhannissian said, “I came back with my heart broken.” Then when Tamamyan and oncologist Liana Safaryan from Muratsan came to Boston for a Dana Farber program that fall, Kazanjian asked Hovhannissian to host Tamamyan, and this cemented the connection.
When planning their activities for the year, New Paths wanted to do outreach for charity work and they thought immediately of Muratsan. The group contacted Kazanjian, and their discussions were the first step toward the broader community effort which began at the end of 2018.
Patients at the Muratsan Chemotherapy Clinic
The final piece of the story came together during the summer of 2018, when Kazanjian was invited to attend an event honoring Anna Hakobyan, who had become honorary chair of the City of Smile Foundation. Hakobyan is spouse of Nikol Pashinyan, leader of the Velvet Revolution and now prime minister of Armenia. Unbeknownst to Kazanjian, she herself was also honored for her support, and the encounter with Hakobyan led to another private meeting to have coffee. Kazanjian invited Hakobyan to Boston for a fundraiser, and Hakobyan accepted. Hovhannissian then met with the executive director of the foundation, Ester Demirtshyan, while in Armenia in summer of 2018, to kick off the planning.
Energized and excited, Kazanjian and Hovhannissian realized that it was necessary to go beyond New Paths, so they reached out to as many Armenian organizations and active members of the community as they could in Boston for their involvement. community noted for pulling together for pan-Armenian causes. They created the City of Smile Charitable Foundation Boston Friends group at the end of 2018 to carry out fundraising and support the mission of Muratsan. This was to become the beginning of a nonprofit chapter of the City of Smile here in the United States. The two women are now also co-chairs of the forthcoming evening program, and their efforts continue to bring people of all backgrounds together in support of a good humanitarian cause. Even people as far away as in Los Angeles have been donating their services.
Kazanjian, encouraging the public to participate as much as possible, said, “I see this as a vehicle to help children with cancer in Armenia. They deserve to have a life. They are young, innocent children who have no choice. They have been diagnosed with cancer and this is devastating not only to their lives but the whole family. It hits you so hard, and more so when you do not have the resources. It is overwhelming to think about how much it costs to help a child in this situation, and they do not have it.”
Hovhannissian added her appeal to the public, declaring: “When I visited the clinic, I knew what to expect as someone born and raised in Armenia, but living in the US for over 20 years and having my own children in and out of hospitals gave me a whole new perspective. It made me realize that the kids in Armenia are no less than the ones here and they absolutely deserve the same highest quality of care. Though this is a major undertaking, we are moved to do this from the depths of our hearts, as we know this is an important cause and we want to do all we can to help these innocent children’s lives. We are beyond grateful to all those organizations and individuals who are in support of this wonderful effort and looking forward to spend a beautiful evening together with the Boston Armenian community!”
BOSTON — George Keverian was a man who dedicated his entire life to public service. He was kind, honest, smart, and above all, put others first before himself. He was in tune with his heritage and was proud to be Armenian. The Keverian family, joined by Alfred Lattanzi, wanted to find a way to keep his legacy alive and use his life lessons to inspire the next generation of young leaders. They have created the Honorable Speaker George Keverian Public Service Scholarship to do just that.
Jack Keverian reflected on his brother: “George and I were raised by a mother and father who had escaped the Armenian Genocide and immigrated to our great country. They struggled to make ends meet during the Great Depression. George and I were touched by their sacrifices. I am sure that the struggles faced by our family is the force that motivated George to provide service to others. This is so well revealed by this simple but powerful quote from his valedictorian speech given to the graduating Class of 1948 at Everett High School: ‘Service should not be rendered as a favor conferred, or as a debt, but as a simple natural devotion to our fellow man.’”
The Keverian family with 2018 scholarship recipient Emilee Guzman, graduate of Everett High School. A second Scholarship was awarded in absentia to Rachael Minassian, Junior at Providence College pursuing a Degree in Political Science (Photo: Kenneth Martin)
George Keverian was blessed with a sharp wit and yet he was a humble man. He was sometimes asked: “Who is smarter, you or your brother?” George would answer: “I am street smart while my brother is book smart.”
The mission of the scholarship is “To preserve the memory of Speaker George Keverian by supporting the work of individuals who strive to create positive change by helping individuals reach their potential, communities achieve their goals, and society advance the principles of democracy.”
It is the late speaker’s family’s hope that the next generation of Armenian-Americans will continue forward by giving back to the community in a positive way and empower the organizations they participate in to do good in our society and within the Armenian community.
Speaker Keverian’s grandniece, Niari Keverian, said, “My uncle was an incredible man. He always put others before himself. He would take the time to speak with anyone and help you if you wanted to be helped. He believed in education and he would say, ‘it doesn’t matter what school you go to; it’s what you make of it.’ That is why this scholarship is so fitting as a way to keep his legacy alive. Our hope is that his story and his life’s work will inspire the next generation of students to continue to do great work themselves. By creating this scholarship, we hope to find students that represent who he was as a human being and hope that they pay it forward for generations to come. That is how we hope to keep my uncle’s legacy alive.”
This is the second year the scholarship is being offered to two recipients. The two grants are administered separately through Everett High School and through the Armenian Student’s Association (ASA). The scholarship provides support for those who have provided a public service or who aspire to provide a public service and/or advance the principles of democracy. The amount of the scholarship is $5,000, and the deadline for applicants this year is March 15. The recipient will be selected in early April and will be awarded at the Armenian Genocide Commemoration event at the State House that Speaker George Keverian initiated taking place the morning of Friday, April 12, in the House Chambers.
Kenneth Keverian, nephew of the former Speaker and IBM Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy presenting the Honorable Speaker George Keverian Public Service Scholarship on April 20, 2018 at the Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Massachusetts State House to Emilee Guzman, graduate of Everett High School now attending Salem State University and pursing a degree in Nursing
Brian Assadourian, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Students Association, declared: “We are thrilled to have been asked by the Keverian family to help find a deserving student for the Honorable Speaker George Keverian Public Service Scholarship. I would encourage all who have in some way been touched by the inspirational life that he led, to help spread the word so that we may bestow this honor at the upcoming Armenian Genocide Commemoration event in Boston.”
To be eligible for the George Keverian Public Service Scholarship Legacy Scholarship through ASA you must meet the following criteria: 1. Be of Armenian descent; 2. Be a high school graduate who is enrolled full-time at an accredited undergraduate college/university, has completed at least one semester in an accredited undergraduate college/university, or an undergraduate who is enrolled full-time at an accredited postgraduate college/university in the US by April 2018; 3. Must be a US citizen or must possess appropriate visa status in order to study in the US; 4. Have the ability to showcase the characteristics and traits of Speaker George Keverian; 5. Be in need of financial aid.
This scholarship will be given to an Armenian-American student who can reflect in his/her ASA application how he/she has given back to others.
Applicants may apply to the scholarship by visiting http://www.asainc.org/national/scholarships.shtml. All requirements of a completed application are due by March 15. Late applications will not be considered.
For more information on this scholarship, email Niari Keverian at niari@keverian.com.
PASADENA, Calif. — The VEM Quartet of the University of California Los Angeles, performed for students of the AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School on Friday, January 11, in an inspiring and educational program under the guidance of artistic director Professor Movses Pogossian.
The musical ensemble, composed of all non-Armenian performers, played a range of classical music by renowned composers Aram Khatchatourian, Komitas Vartabed, and Edvard Mirzoyan, including selections from the “Gayane” ballet (Dance of the Rose Maidens and Lezginka) and Miniatures for the String Quartet (Shogher Jan and Gakavik).
Mezzo soprano Danielle Segen
In an effort to celebrate the culture and influence of Armenian music, this concert was part of VEM Quartet’s outreach service to the greater community. A graduate string-quartet-in-residence at the prestigious University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) Herb Alpert School of Music, the VEM ensemble is composed of diverse and gifted group members who offer quality music to the public, including violinists Ji Eun Hwang, Aiko Jimena Richter and Morgan O’Shaughnessey as well as cellist Jason Pegis and mezzo-soprano Danielle Segin.
In her welcoming remarks, Dr. Silva Karayan, chair of the Board of Trustees Education Committee of the AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School, noted the “special and unique occasion” of the VEM Quartet’s live performance that brings to life the vibrancy of Armenian music.
“We are proud and delighted to have the VEM Quartet perform for our students,” said Karayan. “The beauty of today’s program is that the performers, led by the award-winning Professor Pogossian, are all young and talented musicians of diverse backgrounds.”
Karayan emphasized the importance of a “well-rounded education for students” and the significance that music plays in this endeavor. She expressed gratitude to “generous benefactors” Vatche and Tamar Manoukian, who spearheaded the construction of the Performing Arts Center, which serves as a state-of-the-art venue for Armenian cultural performances, such as the VEM Quartet, to take place for the student body in order to expand their minds.
Movses Pogossian
“Through our performances we introduce Armenian music to different ethnicities and we encourage them to learn more about our culture,” said Pogossian, who has been leading the quartet since its inception five years ago.
Conveying a personal memory, he recalled the music of Komitas Vartabed that would play continuously on April 24 at the eternal flame memorial to the Armenian Genocide at Dzidzernagapert in Armenia. It was a recollection that stayed with him his entire life and that is now emanated through the VEM Quartet.
“It is very touching to me that my young colleagues at UCLA are feeling this pride in being Armenian,” he said.
The 150 students, from grade 9-12, listened intently during the hour-long performance and closely followed the program notes to learn the significance of each piece.
“The students were so attentive, captivated and inspired,” said Karayan, who is planning a return performance on campus for the VEM Quartet. “It was wonderful for students to experience quality entertainment and to be empowered and challenged as they saw in person non-Armenians appreciating and disseminating our culture.”
“Even though the musicians were not Armenian, they made the Armenian spirit in the music come alive and showed the audience that they were very interested in Armenian music and culture,” said Nanor Derbedrossian, a student at the Manoukian High School, who herself is a piano player.
The VEM Quartet has a busy schedule ahead in the coming months as the group will embark in the Spring on an East Coast tour of Boston, Montreal and Detroit, and in June they will perform for the second time in Armenia. While in the homeland, VEM Quartet will fuse musical concerts and education through organized symposiums and workshops with UCLA’s Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies Peter Cowe at the American University of Armenia. Locally, the ensemble is preparing for upcoming performances at the Abril Bookstore in Glendale sponsored by the Tekeyan Cultural Association Metro LA Chapter, the Tekeyan Cultural Association Center in Altadena and the Hammer Museum in April to commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
“This is an excellent program that is growing,” said Pogossian in a post-concert interview. “I’m glad that one of the aspects is outreach so we can connect with Armenian communities and schools.”
He was impressed with how much the students were engaged in the concert as well as their “positive reaction to the music.” While the group currently plays classical music, Pogossian envisions that the ensemble will further evolve into Armenian folk, religious and pop music genres.
Pogosyan plans to return to the AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School in order to do a more in-depth presentation for students based on the music of contemporary Los Angeles based composer Artashes Kartalyan, Chair of Lark Conservatory’s Composition Department, who creates music based on the poetry of Vahan Tekeyan.
“It will be interesting for students to learn how a composer conceives and creates new pieces of music,” said Pogossian, a violinist who has performed with orchestras around the world, including the Brandenburger Symphoniker and the Halle Philharmonic in Germany, the Sudety Philharmonic in Poland, the Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York and the Toronto Sinfonia.
As the VEM Quartet’s longest performer, Segen said it has been “a joy from the very start” to become involved in the ensemble that was an “eye-opening experience” for her as she learned about Armenian music and culture.
“Before, I would not have been able to place Armenia on a map, but now I have brought into my awareness such a rich culture and history of an incredible people,” said Segen, who holds a Master of Music degree from UCLA in Vocal Performance. “Being able to give that knowledge to others has been such a rewarding experience.”
Segen appreciates the opportunity to broaden her horizons and build knowledge of a new culture that “encourages us to be more thoughtful and kind to one another as people inhabiting the same earth.”
One of the highlights of participating in the VEM Quartet was the chance to travel to Armenia, which she discovered to have “a wealth of history, art, architecture, and culture.”
The trip allowed the group to forge bonds with Armenia and Segen looks forward to returning this summer, where she was touched by the warm hospitality of the people.
“We were welcomed by everyone with whom we had a chance to interact,” said Segen. “It was obvious to us how much the people of Yerevan appreciated that we, non-Armenians, were learning and performing these beautiful works by Armenian composers which we would never have come to know without this program.”
TCA VEM Tour
The TCA-sponsored tour of VEM in the US and Canada schedule is as follows:
Montreal: Friday, March 29, at the Tekeyan Center, 825 Manoogian, Saint-Laurent, 8:30 p.m.
Detroit: Wednesday, March 27, at St. John Armenian Church 7:30 p.m.
Boston: Sunday, March 31, 1 p.m. Holy Trinity Armenian Church, Cambridge.
There will be two Los Angeles- area performances in the spring, at the TCA Beshgeturian Center in Altadena, sponsored by the TCA Pasadena-Glendale Chapter and a second at Abril Bookstore in Glendale. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.
LOS ANGELES (Los Angeles Times) — The masked figure in black walked the perimeters of the two private Armenian schools, clutching Turkish flags. In the early-morning hours of Tuesday, January 29. school officials and police said, he zip-tied more than a dozen flags on the schools’ gates and fled.
Authorities are investigating the incidents, which have sparked concern and outrage among L.A.’s Armenians. Many have described the display of the flags as an act of hate, intended to intimidate the community and discredit the Armenian genocide. Los Angeles police were reviewing surveillance footage and planned to boost patrols near the schools.
“It came as a complete shock and surprise in the sense we weren’t expecting it,” said Arpi Avanesian, principal of AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park, where Turkish flags were found. “I don’t know what this person was thinking about. Why today? What set them off to do this? What doesn’t shock me is they did it.”
Flags were also found hanging at Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School, an Armenian school in Encino founded nearly 60 years ago by members of a generation of Armenian Genocide survivors, said Nora Hovsepian, chair of the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region.
“This is a direct affront to them and to their descendants,” Hovsepian said.
As many as 1.5 million Armenians were rounded up and killed by the Ottoman Turkish government beginning in 1915 in what is widely regarded as an orchestrated effort by the Turkish government. Historians have considered what happened a model for other genocides that followed. Turkey denies that the deaths constitute an act of genocide.
The incident in Encino was logged as a hate crime and the one in Canoga Park was recorded as a hate incident, said Officer Jeffrey Lee, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. He did not know why there was a discrepancy.
Police described the suspect as a man who stands 5 feet, 8 inches to 5 feet, 11 inches tall. He wore a black mask, black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes.
Some elected officials told reporters at a news conference Tuesday evening that they were urging authorities to find and prosecute the suspect.
“It is the equivalent of putting a Nazi swastika on the side of a Jewish school,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, whose district includes one of the schools. “This is a terrible affront. It is the equivalent of a positive statement about the Armenian genocide. Putting out Turkish flags is that kind of statement.”
The flags on both campuses were taken down before students arrived.
Avanesian said the school’s P.E. coach and chef, who arrive at the campus first, saw the flags hung outside the main gate when they pulled in. They took photographs and removed the flags. Later that morning, staff walked the perimeter of the six-acre school, finding more flags posted, she said. Video surveillance footage shows one or two men dressed in all black hanging the flags on the school gate early Tuesday, she said.
“We want to all get along,” Avanesian said. “We want people to understand the crimes of the past and we can all have a bright and happy future. Our hope is one day Turkey will understand what their government did over 100 years ago.”
A number of countries have issued statements over the years condemning Turkey’s actions as genocide. But the United States has not.
By the end of the school day, Ferrahian students had responded: Armenian flags waved all over campus, hanging from stair railings and gates.
Community Condemnation
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Communication Coordinator Dickran Khodanian commented on the incident in a tweet, saying, “Earlу this morning, Turkish flags were hung on various Armenian schools in LA including Ferrahian Armenian School. Absolutelу disgusting and unacceptable in 2019.”
US Rep. Adam Schiff made a statement over the incident:
“Private Armenian schools in Southern California were vandalized today with Turkish flags. These schools are attended by many descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, and I stand with the Armenian community in condemning this act of hate.”
Rep. Brad Sherman also condemned the incident on Twitter, saying, “I strongly condemn this hateful act of vandalism. It is particularly cruel to those whose family members died in the Armenian Genocide.”
While the display of the flags caused concern among the Armenians in Los Angeles, Sossi Shanlian, the principal of the school, said that the necessary measures for the students’ safety have been taken.
(Additional information from NBC and the ANCA was used in this story.)
LOS ANGELES — The Armenian Graduate Student Association of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will host its 17th Annual Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies on February 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will be held at UCLA in Royce Hall 314 and will be followed by a catered reception.
For 17 years, the UCLA Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies has dedicated itself to encouraging, fostering, and promoting scholarly research among graduate students in the field of Armenian studies around the world.
This year features presentations by 10 young scholars from the United States, France, China and Armenia on a variety of topics centered around the following themes: the role of literature and the press in culture and identity formation; late antique religious art; early modern circulation of art and ideas between Europe and the Near East; and contemporary sociopolitical movements.
“We are delighted to welcome stellar young scholars in the field of Armenian studies and to give them an opportunity to present their cutting-edge research, receive feedback, and network with their peers and the faculty at UCLA. This year, we are also pleased to welcome Dr. Sebouh David Aslanian, who will be our guest speaker at the event,” said Jennifer Manoukian, director of the 2019 UCLA Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies.
Among the speakers will be Dr. S. Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA; Aram Ghoogasian, “The 1862 Zeytun Rebellion and the Armenian Press” (University of Chicago); Deanna Cachoian-Schanz, “Dare (Again) Not to Speak its Name? Translating ‘Race’ into Early 20th century Western Armenian Feminist Texts” (University of Pennsylvania); Khoren Grigoryan, “The Transformation of Collective Identity after 1915: The Case of Musa Dagh” (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan); Sipana Tchakerian, “Stone Crosses before Khachkars: Early Christian Four-Sided Stelae from Armenia and Georgia” (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Ani Yenokyan, “Illustrations in Armenian Printed Books in the Context of Early Modern Armenian Culture: Printed Woodcuts and Armenian Miniatures” (Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts); Sargis Baldaryan, “An Armenian Trade Manual in Circulation: Constant of Julfa, His Compendium and the Dissemination of Information in the Julfan Trade Network” (Yerevan State University); Xi Yang, “How to Measure Sayat Nova’s Aesthetic and Poetic Achievement” (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing); Armen Adamian, “The Azgagrakan Movement: An Embodied Form of Armenian Nationalism” (UCLA); Stefanie Kundakjian, “Homemakings and Unmakings: Syrian-Armenian Women Integrating in the Homeland” (American University of Paris); Gevorg Petrosyan, “‘New Awakening’: Gezi Park and the Transformation of Armenian Youth Activism in Turkey” (Institute of Oriental Studies, Yerevan) and Dr. Sebouh Aslanian.
The colloquium is free and open to the public and will be live-streamed on the colloquium’s Facebook page (https://bit.ly/2HnVBWu).
WATERTOWN — Beginning this February break, the Armenian Museum will offer a six-week art program for children of all backgrounds ages 7-14. The program’s classes are Drawing and Painting, Collage, and Pottery Decoration. Students will find inspiration among the objects on display in our galleries, and study global influences on Armenian art and culture. Each class will be a fun, interactive session.
Session 1 will be on Wednesdays, 3:30–5:30 p.m., February 20–March 27. Session 2 will take place on Saturdays, 1–3 p.m., February 23–March 30.
FRESNO — The Armenian Studies Program of Fresno State will hold its 31st Annual Banquet on Sunday, March 17, at the Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno.
This year’s banquet will feature special guest Dr. Armen Baibourtian, consul general of the Republic of Armenia.
Baibourtian was appointed consul general on September 6, 2018. He was Armenia’s first Consul General in Los Angeles from 1995 until 1997 and later as Armenia’s first Ambassador to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia from 2000 until 2004. He also worked as Deputy Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN in New York where he focused on international security and conflict resolution issues.
“We are honored that the Consul General of Armenia will be the special guest at the Armenian Studies Program 31st Annual Banquet,” said ASP Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian. “The Banquet is an opportunity for our student to interact with administration, faculty and the community.”
More than 50 student recipients of Armenian Studies scholarships and grants for 2018-2019 will be recognized at the Banquet, together with students who are graduating with a Minor in Armenian Studies.
The Armenian Studies Banquet brings together Fresno State students, faculty, administrators, and the community, to celebrate the achievements of the Program and its students.
The reception will begin at 5 p.m. followed by the banquet at 6 p.m.
Tickets are available at $50 per person, with a special price of $25 for Fresno State students and Fresno State faculty. Reservations for tables of 10 are also being accepted.
NEW YORK — The Knights and Daughters of Vartan invite high school and college students to participate in an essay contest as part of the 104th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide that will be held in Times Square on Sunday, April 28, 2-4 p.m. The Knights & Daughters of Vartan (www.kofv.org ), are an international Armenian fraternal organization headquartered in the U.S.
Deadline to submit the essays is Sunday, April 7.
The essay must be 1,000 words or less. Only one essay per student may be submitted.
The topic is: how has creative expression — literature, music, cinema, visual arts, witness testimony —enhanced your personal understanding of the Armenian Genocide and how has it contributed to your preservation of the memories and lessons of the first holocaust of the 20th century?
Writers should identify a specific example (a novel, a poem, a film, a painting, a memorial, etc.) and convey their understanding of the Armenian Genocide and how it relates to the creative expression you chose. Elaborate on why this piece touched you, why if it has personal meaning, and how it has helped or will help share the history and memory of the Armenian Genocide with others.
The essay will be judged on its originality, clarity, historical accuracy and understanding of the essay contest theme.
All essays should be double spaced, have 1-inch margins, include page numbers, include essay title, be typed in 12-point font, be in Microsoft Word format only. No zip files or Google documents are permitted and be submitted by 11:59 P.M. (EST) on Sunday, April 7.
Submissions can be emailed to apri24nyc@gmail.com.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners chosen by the judges will be awarded $300, $200 and $100 respectively. The best essays will be published in print and online.
The winners will be contacted directly and announced to the mainstream and Armenian media the week of Monday, April 8.
NEW YORK — The displacement of refugees has been an international concern in recent years. A talk at the Eastern Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center looked at a similar humanitarian emergency from a century ago, which developed at the Caucasus front following the Armenian Genocide.
Asya Darbinyan spoke on the subject on Thursday, January 17, at the Diocesan Center. She was introduced by Zohrab Center Director Dr. Christopher Sheklian, who detailed her background as a doctoral candidate at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
To begin her talk, Darbinyan noted how a century ago, the Armenian writer Hovhannes Toumanyan recorded his observations after arriving in the town of Echmiadzin to help to the thousands of Armenians fleeing across the Ottoman border of Transcaucasia.
“In that hell called Turkish Armenia,” he wrote, “three armies exist. The first is the one in combat. The second is the army of the abandoned women and children, the sick, the famished, the naked, the refugees which is the largest army. And third is the army of activists and helpers which is the smallest and weakest.”
Between 1914 and 1917, thousands of Armenian refugees escaping from Turkey across the border to Transcaucasia came from Kars, Igdir and Julfa. Two-thirds of them were women, since most of the men had been slaughtered. More than 200,000 refugees from Turkey had reached the Caucasus between July and August 1915. Upon arrival, they were accommodated in Yerevan, Elizavetpol, Tiflis and Kars.
The local Armenian populations “mobilized all their resources towards the organization of relief work for the displaced Armenians, many of whom were very poor, disabled, and in need of urgent assistance,” Darbinyan related.
Dr. Samuel G. Wilson, a Presbyterian missionary from the American Committee of Armenian and Syrian Relief, reported, “Many of the Armenian villagers have taken in and cared for the destitute refugees. Others have given them the use of their spare rooms, bake-houses, stables and barns.”
Echmiadzin became one of the major refugee towns in the Caucasus. And Mayor Alexander Khatisyan of Tiflis stated, “the number of refugees in Echmiadzin is 30,000, with the daily death toll above 300. Five hundred corpses remain, that are not buried. Healthy refugees have scattered in panic.”
Humanitarian Crisis
Reports of Turkish atrocities against the Armenians and the Caucasian humanitarian crisis quickly reached the imperial Russian authorities. The Russian government as well as a number of non-governmental organizations in the Russian Empire provided humanitarian assistance to thousands of Armenian refugees, the speaker revealed.
“Russia’s joint declaration with Great Britain and France in May 1915 defined the atrocities against the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a crime against humanity, and promised to hold the Ottoman government and those implicated in the massacres personally responsible for those crimes.”
Two prominent Armenian organizations in the Russian Empire that addressed the Armenian refugee crisis were the Caucasus Armenian Benevolent Society with its 72 branches, and the Armenian Central Committee in Tiflis for its assistance to victims of war. Both established hospitals and feeding stations in more than a dozen cities and towns.
The Moscow Armenian Committee mainly operated in Yerevan, opening a hospital, a food depot, three orphanages and a school for 110 orphan-students in Ashtarak and Echmiadzin. And the Committee of Brotherly Aid was a major institution with branches in Echmiadzin, Alexandropol (now Gyumri) and other major areas which was under aegis of the Catholicos of All Armenians.
With the emergency growing speedily, the Russian imperial authorities established the Special Council for Refugees to ensure the efficiency of the refugee humanitarian activities, issuing cards to all identified refugees for food and medical assistance.
They also insisted that able-bodied refugees find work in farming and workshops and help with the education of refugee children who were housed in orphanages throughout the Caucasus. Other Russian aid groups included the All-Russian Union of Towns and the Caucasus Committee.
Savior or Master?
The Russian motivation was complicated. Ottoman Armenians wondered whether Russia was a savior or another imperial master. Russian policy towards Armenians had generally fluctuated depending on the economic, military, political and geographical developments in the region. According to historian Avetis Harutyunyan, “Russian imperial authorities never actually aimed at protecting Armenians.” Their relief work was just the “by-product” of Russian imperialist and colonization policies.
Historian Peter Holquist wrote that when the war was waged, “urgent military interest, rather than an anti-Armenian policy shaped those decisions.” Another historian Halit Akarca called Russian policy in Eastern Turkey during the war as “humanitarian occupation,” motivated by strategic and political concerns.
Darbinyan concluded that “the desire to help others and save lives of strangers was there and mobilized people, agencies, governments and even empires. As the providers of assistance often made, and still do make for the ‘people in distress’, help was and is based not on the actual needs and concerns of the refugees, but rather on their sometimes-inaccurate perceptions of those groups.”
SAN FRANCISCO (The Athletic) — Steve Kerr had known the story of his grandparents saving and caring for thousands of Armenians in the 1920s. But here he was, in a packed banquet room on Saturday night, February 8, at San Francisco’s Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School (KZV), feeling the impact of their benevolence like never before.
Stanley and Elsa Kerr saved and cared for nearly 10,000 orphans when they had nowhere else to go. Many of them went on to become college graduates, experts and professionals. The Kerrs put themselves in grave danger for people they didn’t know.
The Kerr family wearing AUB sweat shirts in Lebanon. Steve Kerr is at far right. (New York Times photo)
One of the most moving moments on Saturday came during a preview of a yet-to-be-completed documentary, “Kerr: Warriors of Peace.” When a snippet from a letter from his grandfather was read, 99 years to the day after he wrote it, Kerr put his head down and wiped away a tear as the chills swirled around the room.
Tonight the most bitter cold of all this winter, all the remaining Armenians are preparing to go out again into exile. Many will perish on the way from Turkish bullets or from cold. Our orphans, old women and men, will remain in our compounds. Perhaps by remaining here, we can protect the remaining Armenians from massacre. If the Turks do not respect our flag and our property, we will die with the others. May the horrors of the last weeks be a blot on the pages of history. No matter what happens, remember that I am ready to make any sacrifice, even death, and have no fear. Good bye, with love and hope.
Stanley Kerr heard these long-ago words with the rest of the crowd at Saroyan Hall, which doubles as the K-8 school’s gymnasium. On this night, it was converted into an elegant setting with white tablecloths and sparkling chandeliers for the 38th annual KZV School Gala. This year was more special with Kerr in attendance. The Warriors head coach was joined by his mother, Ann, his wife, Margot, his son, Nick and daughter, Maddy.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed attended along with Congresswoman Jackie Speier. Vahan Derounian, a mortgage consultant from Wells Fargo, wore Kerr’s blue Arizona jersey on top of his shirt and tie. Anahid Katchian, 74, drove from Denver with her husband. Katchian’s father was one of the orphans.
The video of his late father, the images of his grandparents, the interviews with his aunts and uncles — they visibly touched Kerr. He was 10 years old when his grandfather died. He remembers his grandfather being a handyman. Whenever Stanley made the trek from Princeton, N.J., to see his grandchildren in Southern California, he would end up fixing something. Once, they went to the store together to get wood, mesh wiring and nails and Kerr built a rabbit cage with his grandfather. He remembers the kindness of grandmother, Elsa, and how she’d cook for them. He remembers a few of the favorite meals she used to make.
“They were just Granny and Grandpa to me,” Kerr said. “They weren’t these heroes who saved a generation of children.”
Kerr was the guest of honor, but the honor didn’t belong to him. More than 400 people turned out this year, unofficially the most ever, to say thank you. They heaped on Kerr the gratitude they were never able to extend to his grandparents. They threw roses at his feet, but only because he stands on their shoulders.
And Kerr, indeed, felt the gratitude. As person after person came up to him and shared their stories. As ovation after ovation serenaded his family.
“There was an energy here that I couldn’t have predicted,” said Mary Papazian, president of San Jose State University. “And I knew the history of the Kerrs. I’ve known that history for years. But there was something about (this night). It was a pent up 100 years of thanks that just came out.”
Kerr already knew of his favor with the Armenian community. He knew about his family’s work. He remembers his dad’s parents having Armenian friends. He knew just about every Armenian household had a picture of Mt. Ararat, the Biblical site where many believe Noah’s Ark to be and the principal national symbol of Armenia. He knew if he saw a last name that ended in “ian” it was an Armenian. He told them the story of nudging his dad when it hit him Jerry Tarkanian was Armenian.
Kerr gets random thanks from Armenian people on his travels. Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams is from Fresno, a major hub in California for the Armenian community. Adams had a couple of friends on one road trip and they were enamored with Kerr’s family story.
The people in the attendance for Saturday night’s school fundraiser were especially appreciative. Their parents or grandparents were survivors whose stories they hold dear. They overwhelmed the Kerr family. It makes sense, too, as they were directly connected to the Armenian Genocide. Their small children, dressed up in evening wear, ran around without a care in the world, because Kerr’s grandparents thought their ancestors were worth saving. Stanley Kerr’s book, The Lions of Marash — his eyewitness account of the annihilation of the Armenian population in Western Armenia, published in 1973 — is practically required reading for Armenians.
By the 1910s, Armenian sympathy was part of the cultural fabric of American society. Then, on April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian leaders, intellectuals, writers, artists and doctors were killed, kicking off the exile of Armenians from their homeland, officially beginning the Armenian Genocide.
The US government under President Woodrow Wilson began an emergency drive to procure funds for survivors and refugees. Grocery stores and Sunday schools collected pennies for their relief. Parents used “Remember the starving Armenians” as motivation for their children to not waste any food. America’s entry into World War I slowed the relief activities temporarily, but the end of the war in 1918 allowed for greater efforts to aid the Armenians, including a congressional act in 1919 incorporating the Near East Relief organization.
This is where Stanley and Elsa come in.
“These people went to the other side of the world who had nothing to do with us. They had nothing to do with us,” said Ani Hovannisian, the documentarian who attended Pacific Palisades High with Kerr and whose father taught with Kerr’s father at UCLA. “He was the son of a Presbyterian minister, Stanley was, and he was in the Army but he wasn’t in active service. He was a chemist at Walter Reed and someone came through saying the Near East Relief is looking for people to go over to the Ottoman Empire to help people in need. And he jumped. He jumped.”
Kerr’s grandparents were among many Americans who took ships across the oceans and seas to help this mission. Elsa Reckman went to teach in an Armenian school in Turkey after graduating from Wisconsin. Stanley Kerr was a chemist at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, DC, when he decided to help abroad. They both ended up working with Near East Relief, an American charity created to help the Armenians.
In 1919, Kerr’s grandfather was stationed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. He worked as a medical and sanitary officer who tended to the Armenians who survived what was known as the death march. Some of those exiled trekked through the Syrian Desert — surviving starvation, dehydration, sexual abuse, human trafficking and murder. Stanley tended to the survivors, mostly women and children. He transferred to run a relief effort in Marash. He was there in February 1920 when French troops suddenly pulled out and left the Armenians exposed to the Turks. The Armenians were massacred during a three-week siege.
In 1922, Stanley and Elsa joined the staff of a Near East Relief orphanage in Lebanon that cared for Armenian children. When he married Elsa later that year, one of the Armenian refugees served as a flower girl in their wedding. A malaria outbreak forced them to abandon the orphanage in 1923.
After returning home, the two ended up back in Lebanon at the American University at Beirut. Stanley was the chairman of the biochemistry department and Elsa was the dean of women students. They had four children, including Kerr’s father, Malcolm. He was born and raised in Beirut. In 1982, Malcolm became president of the same university where his father worked despite a civil war still being waged in the region. On January 18, 1984, Malcolm Kerr was shot and killed by two gunmen on behalf of Islamic Jihadists who took credit for the murder.
Kerr was in college at the University of Arizona at the time, but the nurturing of his father had already planted the seed of his worldview.
Kerr, as a kid, cared more about playing hoop than what his parents were talking about. But the eight-time NBA champion, now 53, can’t overstate the impact his upbringing continues to have on the coach and person he is today.
He spent a lot of time overseas, in places like France, Tunisia, Egypt. His house was like a United Nations gathering. His parents would have barbecues and Kerr said they were like an international festival.
He was back in the midst of one on Saturday. He was gifted a statue of Mt. Ararat as a token of appreciation. At the end of the night, he and the family joined in a “shourchbar” — a traditional Armenian line dance where the participants are connected by pinkies.
“Growing up overseas, knowing people from all over the world, knowing my family’s background,” Kerr said, “it just gave me a broader picture of the world, gave me a better understanding of people. How we’re all pretty much the same at our core but we just come from different cultures and different backgrounds. But we can all connect very easy, especially through sports.
“It’s a good reminder that there’s a lot of reasons why people connect to sports, connect to teams or athletes,” he continued. “It’s not just the ball going in the hoop or the team winning. It’s the emotional connection that happens. People who are Steph Curry fans, they know about Steph’s life and what he’s accomplished, not only on the court and off. You think about all the impact Kevin (Durant) has made, all of his charitable work around the country, all the lives he’s touched. So then you think about there is a whole generation of kids out there who are Kevin Durant fans, Warriors fans, for a whole different reason. Part of it is basketball, but part of it is the impact he is making on their lives.”
Hovannisian, while working on the documentary, has orchestrated several interviews with the Kerr family. She also found hundreds of pages of letters written by Stanley and Elsa. In one of the letters, Stanley said that as he typed, a gunshot fired off with each stroke of a letter.
For Armenians, these letters bring to life their history. They have lost their homeland and are spread across the globe as a result of their exile. They don’t have access to their culture’s treasures. They are witnessing pieces of their heritage, such as their native language, slip away as they assimilate into the morays of other countries.
In 1991, the country received its independence with the fall of the Soviet Union. The Republic of Armenia. But most of what was their land now belongs to Turkey. Hovannisian’s first name comes from the city Ani, which was formerly the capital of an Armenian kingdom. Ani means “city of 1,001 churches” and its religious structures were considered among the most advanced in the world and a source of great pride for Armenians. Now, it sits in Turkish territory, in view of Armenia but still unreachable. The Cathedral of Ani was where the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church dwelled for a half of century. It’s visible from a distance, the domed basilica abandoned in decay.
For a community of people who have been stripped of much of their culture, for people who have heard others deny the validity of the Armenian Genocide, those letters from Kerr’s grandparents bring their heritage to life. The stories being told, the evidence they present, it means the world to them. Saturday night, Hovannisian shared some of them with the Kerr family through the preview of the documentary, which was a condensed behind-the-scenes look at its early stages of development.
“He kept a diary and it was so meticulous,” she said. “These people were saving lives. They were running out into the street saving people. They were in the hospital saving people. They were negotiating peace. They were having Christmas dinner. They were giving food to the orphans. And he still had time to write letters. Elsa, too. And these letters are the biggest treasures because that’s the evidence.
“My grandmother,” Hovannisian continued, “who was orphaned and she saw her twin six-month-old siblings taken away, never to be seen again. My grandfather had eight brothers and sisters. He left and came back to his village and everybody was gone. You grow up with these stories and you know it’s real. You know it happened. And you have denialists saying it didn’t happen but then you have this evidence — not of an Armenian, but of an American, of many Americans and non-Armenians who went from around the world to help. … Stanley Kerr and Elsa Kerr gave us renewed life.”
PARIS — Preeminent historian Anahide Ter Minassian died on Monday, February 11, at her home in Fresnes, near Paris.
She had been undergoing cancer treatment for a long time.
Ter Minassian was a lecturer at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and Paris I University.
Ter Minassian was born in 1929 in Paris. Her father, Levon Kevonyan, was born in Zara, while her mother, was the daughter of Gülizar and Kegam Der Garabedyan, whose parents were the subject of books, and Armenuhi Der Garabedian, born in Mus.
Her parents traveled with a Nansen passport and spent the 1920s in Paris as immigrants in Belleville.
Ter Minassian started to learn Armenian from the age of 7. She got married to Levon Minassian, who was also an Armenian countryless.
She grew up in a family setting surrounded by Armenian writers and artists. She studied history and geography at the Sorbonne. She taught at various high schools in Paris. Since 1969, she had worked on the subjects of Russian history, history of international relations, Armenian social, cultural and political history in Sorbonne.
Ter Minassian’s grandmother Gülizar was the daughter of a respectable Armenian family living in the Mush region.
Among her books are: La question arménienne (Roquevaire: Parenthèses, 1983); Nationalism and Socialism (1887-1912) (Cambridge: Zoryan Institute, 1984); La République d’Arménie, 1918-1920 (Brussels: Complexe, 1989); Histoires croisées: Diaspora, Arménie, Transcaucasie, 1880-1990 (Marseille: Parenthèses, 1997); Vagharshapat: Edjmiatzin, Hripsime, Gayane, Shoghakat (Venice: OEMME, with Armen Zarian and Arà Zarian, 1998); Nos terres d’enfance: L’Arménie des souvenirs (Marseille: Parenthèses, with Houri Varjabédian, 2010) L’échiquier arménien entre guerres et révolutions: 1878-1920 (Paris: Karthala, 2015).
