DEATH OF ALEXANER KHATISIAN

Alexander Khatisian, one of the prime ministers of the first Republic of Armenia, was a remarkable public figure before and after the crucial years of 1918-1920.

He was born in Tiflis (nowadays Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, on February 17, 1874. He belonged to a well-to-do family. His brother Kostandin Khatisian (1864-1913) was among the founding members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

After graduating from the local gymnasium (Russian high school) in 1891, Khatisian went to Russia to pursue higher education.

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BIRTH OF SAMVEL MKRTCHYAN

Reading the list of translations by Samvel Mkrtchyan is simply humbling. His translation of a text like James Joyce’s Ulysses (2012), published two years before his untimely death, crowned the career of this prolific translator. Mkrtchyan was born on February 25, 1959, in Talin (Armenia). In 1983 he graduated from the Valery …Brusov University, specialized in foreign languages. Afterwards…

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OPENING OF THE HOUSE-MUSEUM OF YEGHISHE CHARENTS

The house-museum of Yeghishe Charents (1897-1937) in Yerevan keeps the memory of one of the greatest names of Armenian poetry and symbol of the Stalinist purge of Armenian intelligentsia in 1936-1938. The museum, installed at the building where Charents lived the last two years of his life (6 Sundukian Street at the time, now Mashtots Avenue 17), was created by decision …

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BIRTH OF KARP [GARB] KHACHVANKIAN

Karp (Karapet) [pronounced Garabaed] Khachvankian was born in Akhaltskha (Javakhk, in present-day Georgia). He moved to Tbilisi in 1928 with his family and studied at the actor’s school of the local film studio from 1941-1944. Karp was known as the “King of Laughter,” was particularly well-known in Armenia for his comedic roles, which turned him into one of the most …

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BIRTH OF LORD BYRON

For two centuries, Lord Byron’s Armenian connection has become the stuff of legend, and the fact that one of the greatest British poets took an interest in the Armenian culture to the point of learning the language has been widely discussed. He made his goal to get acquainted with Armenian culture and, more importantly, to study the Armenian language with …

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BIRTH OF EDGAR HOVHANNISIAN

What do the songs “Sardarabad” and “Erevan-Erebuni” have in common? Both of them were written on the same year, 1968, by the same poet, Paruyr Sevak, and musicalized by the same composer, Edgar Hovhannisian.  He was born on January 14, 1930, in Yerevan. He finished the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in 1953 and then pursued post-graduate work at the Moscow…

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DEATH OF HAKOB HOVHANNISIAN

Hakob Hovhannisian was an important figure in the period of organization of science in Soviet Armenia, and like many others, he became a victim of the Stalinist purges…

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DEATH OF KAREKIN NJDEH

His actual name was Karekin Der Harutiunian, and he was born on January 1, 1886, in the family of a priest (hence the surname Der Harutiunian) in the village of Kznout, Nakhichevan. He adopted the surname Nejhdeh in 1906. He became commander of the armed forces in the region of Zanguezur (nowadays Siunik) in October 1919…

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BIRTH OF KOHAR KASPARIAN | ԳՈՀԱՐ ԳԱՍՊԱՐԵԱՆ

Kohar Kasparian, was one of the most brilliant Armenian opera singers of the twentieth century, a coloratura soprano also known as the “Nightingale of Armenia.”  She was born Kohar Khachaturian on December 14, 1924, in Cairo…

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THE SPITAK EARTHQUAKE OF 1988

Earthquakes have frequently hit Armenia throughout history. Soviet Armenia had three major quakes in the first fifty years of existence in Leninakan (1926) and Zangezur (1931 and 1968). The fourth earthquake would be the worst, prompting a global effort for relief that remained unprecedented in the history of the former Soviet Union…

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