Author: Vigen Avetisyan

The Armenian state of Cilicia that existed from 1080 to 1375 in southeast Asia Minor on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea played an exceptional role in the history of the Armenian people. Prior to being proclaimed a kingdom in 1198, this state had been known as the principality of Cilicia. We present to your

On birthdays and especially on anniversaries, it is customary to make gifts. So, in the year of its eightieth birthday, Armenian jazz received a wonderful gift. The book “The History of European Jazz; The Music, Musicians and Audience in Context” beautifully published by the British publishing house Equinox contains information about jazz music and musicians

Yerevan is the current and twelfth capital of Armenia. Before it, the capital cities of Armenia have been Van, Armavir, Yervandashat, Artashat, Tigranakert, Vagharshapat, Dvin, Bagaran, Shirakavan, Kars, and Ani. The current Armenian capital founded in 782 BC is 29 years older than Rome. The city was founded by King of Urartu Argishti I. The

An article by American human rights activists on the events in the border areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan in May 1991 published in The New York Book Review. … While attending the First Human Rights Congress in memory of Andrei Sakharov in Moscow at the end of May, we heard many reports about the deportations

The winters in Armenia can be harsh. Even in the relatively warm Ararat valley, the temperature sometimes goes as low as -38 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the population has always thoroughly prepared for winter. For example, they baked and stocked up on lavash (Armenian flatbread) for the entire winter. Stocks of dairy products, cereals, legumes, and

“The 98th anniversary of the February Revolution is approaching. The Armenian European Party presents a documentary by Aida Nersisyan – a favorite TV anchor of the Armenian State Television – about famous Armenian soldiers hacked to death by the Bolsheviks on February 17-18, 1921, in the Yerevan prison.” Ruben Shukhyan, 2015 Nikolay Adamovich Ghorghanyan was

The documentary film “Revival after a century” tells about George Djerdjian’s latest book which presents photos of his hometown and college taken by his grandfather. Between 1900 to 1907, Grigor Djerdjian (1870-1947) – the grandfather of the author of the book – took about 240 photos of his hometown Arabkir and a college in the

For many centuries, the tonir (an Armenian oven) was an integral part of peasant houses. Due to the round shape of the tonir, houses have also been made round. In the roof of such houses was a chimney (“yerdik” in Armenian). This chimney let the smoke out and at the same time let sunlight in.

The memoirs “Love, love, love” is the exclusive primary source about the life of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire before the genocide. The book presents unique information about the history of physical education, the Olympic Games, WWI, the Armenian Genocide, the deportation, etc. For the first time in its history in 1912, the Ottoman Empire

Last year in October, in connection with the Francophone Summit held in Yerevan, the French radio station RFI (Radio France Internationale) presented a special series of programs in the Armenian language dedicated to this event. The programs were broadcast during the week. In Yerevan, they were broadcast on the frequency FM 102.4. As a result

“Every time I come to Armenia, the first thought that is born in my head is the thought that I am on the land of my ancestors, and a feeling of deep pride seizes me. These days, I am becoming more sensitive. Before the massacre of Armenians by the Turks, the last person from my

In the summer of 1933, Ruben Gukasovich Rubenov (Ռուբեն Ղուկասի Ռուբենով) was replaced by Mir Jafar Bagirov at the position of the first secretary of the Azerbaijani Communist Party. This appointment could not take place without the assistance of Beria and the consent of Stalin. During his twenty-year rule (1933-1953), Bagirov presented himself as the

These children with carefree faces and naive eyes in the photo were the Armenian inhabitants of the Mush orphanage. In the center is their mentor Margarita. The photo was taken by an employee of the Organization of the Scandinavian Mission and missionary Bodil Katharine Biørn. Prior to the tragic events of 1915, Biørn worked in

The Church of St. Poghos-Petros was one of those famous churches which was described by European travelers in great detail. The church had a restrained architecture and belonged to the type of dome-less three-nave basilicas which were common in the 5th-6th centuries. Despite the fact that the date of construction of the church is the

Skunder Boghossian was a painter from Ethiopia who played an important role in presenting European modernist styles in Africa and who, as a longtime resident of the United States, became one of the most famous African contemporary painters in the West. Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian was born in Addis Ababa in 1937 into the family of

In February 1896, I arrived in Constantinople from Sofia where we had been celebrating the turning of the Bulgarian heir to Orthodoxy. Constantinople was still full of traces of the recent “revolution” – this is how the Armenian massacre committed by the Muslim scum Istanbul was for some reason called – which was organized by

The photo depicts a line of Armenian orphans holding their daily ration of bread. The photo was taken by Leopold Kashchik, the Polish employee of Danish missionary Karen Jeppe. Kashchik also photographed the Armenian refugee camp in Aleppo on the instructions of Jeppe. Karen Jeppe attached such photos to the letters which she sent to

In this 16th-century miniature are portrayed Sparapet (commander) Mushegh Mamikonyan, King Pap, and the soldiers of the Armenian cavalry detachment. This miniature illustrates the great victory of the Armenians over the Persian army of Shapur II in the Battle of Dzirav in 371 AD. Thanks to this victory, Pap returned the marginal territories that had

Today’s journey takes us to another holy of holies of the Armenian Cosmos, a country where the Armenian nation was formed, where one of the first Armenian states took shape in the 2nd millennium BC. This country was called the House of Torgom. Traditions and legends of all the most ancient nations – Armenian, Jewish,

The Armenian culture, literature, and history have always been at the center of attention of European art historians and publishers. Dutch painter, engraver, and poet Jan Luyken lived and worked in Amsterdam in the late 17th – early 18th century. His most famous works are the illustrations for the five-volume cartographic atlas “Nieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel”