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Richard Hovannisian Delivers Keynote at Haigazian Conference in Beir

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  • Richard Hovannisian Delivers Keynote at Haigazian Conference in Beir

    Richard Hovannisian Delivers Keynote at Haigazian Conference in Beirut

    By MassisPost
    Updated: May 29, 2014

    UCLA--Professor Richard Hovannisian was invited to give keynote address
    at an international conference on the Armenian community of Lebanon.
    The Conference, organized by the Armenian Diaspora Research Center
    under the direction of Dr. Antranik Dakessian, took place on the
    Haigazian campus in Beirut from June 14 through 16.

    The conference was opened by Haigazian President Reverend Paul
    Haidostian, who remained in attendance and participated throughout the
    proceedings. In his address, Hovannisian combined academic and
    personal elements, first by emphasizing the long history of the
    Lebanese Armenian community and its essential role in preserving and
    propagating Armenian language and culture throughout the entire
    diasporan world. The Lebanese community, together with the Syrian
    Armenian community, infused in young generations the concept of an
    imagined Armenia, without the normal detractive aspects that may be
    found in any actual state. That dedication and commitment to the ideal
    inspired and still continues to inspire the generations.

    Professor Hovannisian then reflected upon the Lebanon that he
    discovered and which became his home for a year in the mid-1950s, with
    its Armenian-speaking population of all ages and its vibrant schools
    and institutions. There, he experienced for the first time Armenian as
    a living language, not just that of a generation of aging genocide
    survivors. Through a power point presentation, he captivated the
    audience by taking them back to the familiar sites of Lebanon before
    the tragic civil war in the 1970s and its regrettable massive exodus.

    Papers during the three day conference were given by scholars from
    Lebanon, Syria, Armenia, Belorussia, France, and the United States.
    Hovannisian had the pleasure in the final session of moderating and
    commenting on a panel of talented, promising young Armenian scholars,
    whose research, data, organization and delivery were most impressive.

    BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS, AND USA

    Prior to the Haigazian conference, Richard and Vartiter were in
    Belgium and the Netherlands for a series of talks. On May 9, an
    evening presentation was organized in the newly refurbished Hay Dun/La
    Maison arménienne in Brussels in a dinner program organized by a
    committee headed by Mr. Andre Gumuchdjian. On May 10, Hovannisian
    spoke in Amsterdam on the final stages of the Armenian Genocide up to
    the destruction of Christian Smyrna. The event was held under the
    auspices of the Abovian Society of Holland in the newly renovated
    historic Armenian Church of the Holy Spirit,. Mato Hakhverdian and
    Inge Drost served as the coordinators. The following day, May 11,
    Richard and Vartiter Hovannisian were in the Dutch town of Almelo,
    near the German border for a lecture following services in the Saint
    Gregory the Illuminator Church of the city, which has seen a large
    influx of Armenians from southeastern Turkey, Iraq, and Armenia. The
    community recently dedicated a large Armenian Genocide memorial on the
    large wooded property. Mr. Harout Palanjian of the Holland AGBU
    introduced the speaker, who was also welcomed by Armenia's Ambassador
    to the Netherlands, the Honorable Dziunik Aghajanyan.

    Flying from Beirut to Chicago on May 17, Richard and Vartiter
    Hovannisian went directly to a dinner reception at the spacious home
    of Mrs. Arpy Seferian as part of the Hairenik Association's launch of
    its e-book series, starting with Voices from the Past. Introduced by
    Antranig Kasparian, Hovannisian reflected upon some of the titans whom
    he had come to know in his younger years, including Simon Vratzian,
    Dro Kanayan, Goms (Vahan Papazian), Garo Sassouni, Reuben Darbinian,
    the Patriarchs of Constantinople Karekin and Shnork, Locum Tenens of
    the Cilician Catholicosate Khat Achabayan, a young vartabed named
    Karekin, who would go on to become Catholicos, and His Holinesses
    Vazken, Zareh, and Khoren. In Chicago, too, Hovannisian showed power
    point images of Lebanon, when much of the intellectual and cultural
    life was still centered in West Beirut, and he offered a visual tour
    from the blue Mediterranean and the American University of Beirut
    through the bourg and souks, the shanty town of Karantina, Nor Hajin,
    Bourdj-Hamoud, Antelias, Bikfaya, and Anjar, which then was still
    dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting.

    Richard Hovannisian will be in Watertown, Massachusetts on Saturday,
    June 14, under the auspices of the Armenian Library and Museum of
    Armenia (ALMA) to present his latest publication, Armenian
    Kesaria/Kayseri and Cappadocia. In Burbank, California on June 24, he
    will lead off a two-day Facing History and Ourselves teacher institute
    on the Armenian Genocide, and on June 25 he will offer his Kesaria
    presentation in the Glendale Public Library with the joint sponorship
    of the Nor Serount, Tekeyan, and Hamazkayin cultural associations and
    arrangements by Armenian Outreach Coordinator Elizabeth Grigorian.

    http://massispost.com/2014/05/richard-hovannisian-delivers-keynote-at-haigazian-conference-in-beirut/

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