16.02.2021


The presentation of newly published and republished AGMI books took place in the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute’s conference hall on February 16, 2020.

The presentation was attended by Mr. Jonathan Lacotte, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Republic of Armenia; Ms. Nicola Stanisch, Director of the “Aurora” Humanitarian Initiative; Mr. Harout Nercessian, Armenian Representative of the Armenian Missionary Association of America; Ms. Arpi Vardanyan, Regional Director of the Armenian Assembly of America; as well as other guests.

Dr. Harutyun Marutyan, AGMI Director, greeted the guests with an opening speech, noting that 2020 was a fruitful year for the AGMI in terms of publications, thanks to the expansion of cooperation and the efforts made by AGMI staff. He stressed that the series “Memoirs of Survivors of the Armenian Genocide” was established in 2020 with the aim of putting them into scientific circulation. Dr. Marutyan also added that the first four books within the framework of the series were published in 2020, Aurora Mardiganian’s memoir “Ravished Armenia: The story of Aurora Mardiganian” being chosen as the series’ symbolic first book.

“This book presents the memories of a young Armenian woman who survived the Armenian Genocide and the journey, full of trials, of her exiled people. The English and Armenian versions of the book were published with the support of the ‘Aurora Foundation’ and the French version was published by funds provided by the leadership of the Region Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes in France.” Dr. Marutyan also added, “It should be noted that unlike previous editions, the new editions have an extensive, professional preface and about 100 notes.”

Mr. Jonathan Lacotte, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia, also greeted the participants. In his speech, he mentioned that his first visit to the Armenian Genocide Museum after handing over his ambassadorial credentials three years ago was very impressive, not just because of the museum’s exhibition, but also due to the staff’s professional skills and human experience. In his speech the ambassador emphasized cooperation with the AGMI, noting that one of its results was the publication of the French version of “Ravished Armenia: The story of Aurora Mardiganian.” Mr. Lacotte added that the leadership of France’s Region Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes is ready to make the book available in school libraries in the region, contributing to the dissemination of the memoir and the theme of the Armenian Genocide.

In his speech, Ms. Nicola Stanisch, Director of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, said that Aurora’s story was the inspiration for their organization. She thanked the AGMI for its cooperation and expressed hope that the republishing of the memoir would contribute to its dissemination.

AGMI researcher Dr. Narek Poghosyan’s monograph “The Problem of the Armenian Genocide in Raphael Lemkin’s Studies,” was also published in 2020. The author has thoroughly researched and presented Rafael Lemkin’s works on the Armenian Genocide.

The collection of reports presented at the conference titled “The Rescue of Armenians in the Middle East in 1915-1923: Proceedings of the International Conference,” was edited by Dr. Harutyun Marutyan and Dr. Narine Margaryan. Its publication, as well as the conference, was funded by the Armenian Missionary Association of America.

Mr. Harout Nercessian, the representative of the Armenian Missionary Association of America in Armenia, thanked the AGMI for its cooperation and mentioned that: “Today, when history seems to be repeating itself, such publications are more important than ever.”

AGMI researcher Dr. Robert Tatoyan presented the 4th book of the “Memoirs of Survivors of the Armenian Genocide” series, containing two unpublished memoirs, edited and annotated by AGMI researchers Dr. Robert Tatoyan and Ms. Regina Galustyan, enriched with prefaces and appendices: “Aram Mantashyan, Aram could not be Seyto” and “Sokrat Mkrtchyan, Memoir.” It was especially remarkable that, thanks to the efforts made by the researchers, it was possible to find descendants of the two authors who were present at the book presentation and made short speeches.

The presentation also featured two more important works, the first of which was the illustrated book by the renowned French-Armenian historian and Chairman of the AGMI Board of Trustees, Dr., Prof. Raymond Kevorkian, titled “The Armenian Genocide and Its Consequences,” published by the AGMI. The second was the complete edition of the American-Armenian historian and director of the Armenian National Institute, Dr., Prof. Rouben Adalian’s work “Remembering and Understanding the Armenian Genocide.” Ms. Arpi Vardanyan highlighted Dr., Prof. Rouben Adalian’s activities and cooperation with the AGMI in the work of recognition and dissemination of knowledge concerning the Armenian Genocide.

Mrs. Sona Manukyan participated in the presentation as a guest, presenting her book “When Mankind is silent: Documentary Novels.” The author mentioned that it was originally a screenplay written in response to a Turkish film. Mrs. Manukyan noted that the book ends with an optimistic emphasis and expressed hope that it would be translated into different languages, thus becoming accessible to foreigners.

The authors presented signed copies of their books to the participants at the close of the presentation.