News
NAASR Receives Donation of Rare Books and Periodicals from the Hairenik Association
Rare books from the 1800s published by Armenian presses around the world as well as precious bound volumes of Armenian newspapers from the early 1900s and other hard-to-find treasures comprise the notable donation in July from the Hairenik Association of Watertown, MA to the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). This collection represents a significant addition to NAASR’s Mardigian Library and will become accessible to the public after NAASR’s new Vartan Gregorian Building opens on November 1, 2019, in Belmont, MA. Read the story in the Armenian Weekly or continue reading below. George Aghjayan, a member of NAASR’s Board of...
NAASR Congratulates Board Member Edward Avedisian On Receiving Honorary Doctorate from University of Rhode Island
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research is proud and thrilled to recognize our illustrious Board member, Edward Avedisian, who is also the principal building donor for our new global headquarters, on receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Rhode Island at its commencement in Kingston, RI, on May 19, 2019. Mr. Avedisian, the son of Armenian Genocide survivors, became a clarinetist with the Boston Pops for 35 years and the Boston Ballet Orchestra for more than 40, and has devoted himself with the same heartfelt dedication and excellence as a philanthropist in Armenia and the U.S....
NAASR Spring Benefit Hosted by Dr. Seda and Vartan Keshishian
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) held a benefit dinner at the historic home of Dr. Seda and Vartan Keshishian on May 18. The Keshishian home, which used to belong to Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts, was recently renovated and formed an impressively elegant backdrop to the brief formal program and dinner, at which more than 80 guests were present. The fundraising was to support NAASR’s operational expenses, not the construction of its new building. Read the complete article by Aram Arkun, in the Armenian Mirror Spectator.
Documenting Monuments in Armenia and Artsakh
Archaeologist Tigran Aleksanyan, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of NAS RA, reports from the field on his project's progress. Tigran is a recipient of a Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies grant to support a project to document monuments preserved in the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh associated with the memory of Vardanants' martyrs. NAASR partners with the Knights of Vartan to issue grants. “I am glad to inform you that the study of Vardanants sanctuaries, supported by the Knights of Vartan fund, is going well. Before beginning fieldwork we have reviewed the published, bibliographic and archival materials, clarified...
NAASR Recipient of Rare Books
A precious piece of Armenian history has landed in Watertown. A rare first edition of an 18th-century landmark work that survived eras of turbulence and destruction, and was preserved lovingly by a prominent Armenian family, is now in the collection at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. “History of the Armenians,” or “Patmut’iwn Hayots’, by Father Mikayel Chamchian, was published in Venice from 1784 to 1786, and was described by scholar Razmik Panossian as “the definitive Armenian history text in this formative period of mass national identity.” The three-volume work was preserved by the Simsarian family of Worcester...