Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 12pm Noon Eastern / 9am Pacific
On Zoom and NAASR's YouTube channel Armenian Studies.

PRESENTER
SONA BALOYAN, Senior International Relations Specialist at the Matenadaran

In this webinar, the Matenadaran’s Sona Baloyan provides an illustrated introduction to the institution, showcasing not only what may be seen by visitors but also providing a look behind the scenes at this remarkable center of scholarship and preservation.

The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, or the Matenadaran, was established in order to preserve the manuscripts of the Echmiadzin Catholicosate. The Echmiadzin Matenadaran was transferred to Yerevan’s Public Library in 1939. The construction of a new building designed by architect Mark Grigoryan began in 1945 and finished in 1957. In 1959 the Matenadaran was reorganized into an institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation, and publication of manuscripts and in 1962, the institute was named after Mesrop Mashtots. A major addition, housing the scientific departments, opened in 2011.

The Matenadaran contains about 23,000 manuscripts, from almost all areas of ancient and medieval Armenian culture and sciences. The Matenadaran also holds manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Ethiopian, Syrian, Latin, Tamil, and other languages. Many originals, lost in their mother languages and known only by their Armenian translations, have been saved from loss by medieval translations.

CO-SPONSORS
Matenadaran / Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)