NAASR's Mardigian Library has over 30,000 books published over the past three and a half centuries. This includes titles published almost everywhere Armenians have lived in any significant numbers, including major centers of Armenian life (and publishing) such as Yerevan, Etchmiadzin, Tiflis, St. Petersburg, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Smyrna, New Julfa, Beirut, Cairo, Sofia, Venice, Paris, Marseilles, New York, Boston, Fresno, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and many others. In a way, these books contain the story of the Armenian diaspora itself.
While taking note of the anniversary of the capture of Shushi this week in 1992, one of the key events in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, we look back at two noteworthy books from NAASR’s Mardigian Library from the late 19th century that explore the then recent past of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh: KhamsayiMelikʻutʻiwnnerě(ԽամսայիՄելիքութիւններ) by Raffi and Gaghtnik‘ Gharabaghi (ԳաղտնիքՂարաբաղի) by Apresi Beknazareants‘.
Not everything in NAASR’s Mardigian Library is a book. There are also, among other things, a huge number of recordings—78s, LPs, tapes, CDs, etc., all with some Armenian connection or another. Some of these will be topics of future installments; most of them are obscure, except to specialists and collectors. For this installment we will go in a totally different direction and focus on a record that was a huge hit in its day, and its Armenian connections.
Fifty-five years ago, April 1965, can truly be seen as,in the words of author (and NAASR Board member) Michael Bobelian, “the birth of the modern campaign of justice” for the Armenian Genocide. 1965 may also be seen as the year of the re-birth of efforts to document the Armenian Genocide, which would lead to the creation, in more recent years, of a growing body of scholarship on the Genocide.
Franz Werfel’s novelDie Vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh(The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), originally published in Berlin by Paul Zsolnay Verlag in 1933, is undoubtedly the most famous work of literature that focuses on the Armenian Genocide. We pause to remember the contribution Werfel (1890-1945) made, in the year 2020 which marks the 130thanniversary of his birth and the 75thanniversary of his death.
NAASR's Mardigian Library has over 30,000 books published over the past three and a half centuries. This includes titles published almost everywhere Armenians have lived in any significant numbers, including major centers of Armenian life (and publishing) such as Yerevan, Etchmiadzin, Tiflis, St. Petersburg, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Smyrna, New Julfa, Beirut, Cairo, Sofia, Venice, Paris, Marseilles, New York, Boston, Fresno, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and many others. In a way, these books contain the story of the Armenian diaspora itself.
While taking note of the anniversary of the capture of Shushi this week in 1992, one of the key events in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, we look back at two noteworthy books from NAASR’s Mardigian Library from the late 19th century that explore the then recent past of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh: Khamsayi Melikʻutʻiwnnerě (Խամսայի Մելիքութիւններ) by Raffi and Gaghtnik‘ Gharabaghi (Գաղտնիք Ղարաբաղի) by Apresi Beknazareants‘.
Not everything in NAASR’s Mardigian Library is a book. There are also, among other things, a huge number of recordings—78s, LPs, tapes, CDs, etc., all with some Armenian connection or another. Some of these will be topics of future installments; most of them are obscure, except to specialists and collectors. For this installment we will go in a totally different direction and focus on a record that was a huge hit in its day, and its Armenian connections.
Fifty-five years ago, April 1965, can truly be seen as,in the words of author (and NAASR Board member) Michael Bobelian, “the birth of the modern campaign of justice” for the Armenian Genocide. 1965 may also be seen as the year of the re-birth of efforts to document the Armenian Genocide, which would lead to the creation, in more recent years, of a growing body of scholarship on the Genocide.
Franz Werfel’s novel Die Vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh (The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), originally published in Berlin by Paul Zsolnay Verlag in 1933, is undoubtedly the most famous work of literature that focuses on the Armenian Genocide. We pause to remember the contribution Werfel (1890-1945) made, in the year 2020 which marks the 130th anniversary of his birth and the 75th anniversary of his death.