17.12.2024


The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute mourns the loss of Professor Israel Charny, who passed away two days ago. Professor Charny was one of the pioneers in the field of genocide studies and a good friend of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Israel Charny, a renowned Israeli psychologist and a towering figure in genocide studies, was one of the founders of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) in 1994, the leading organization of genocide experts, and its official journal, Genocide Studies and Prevention (2006). He was the editor of the two-volume Encyclopedia of Genocide and authored numerous other scholarly works on genocide studies.

Israel Charny was a longtime champion of recognizing the Armenian Genocide. In 1982, he organized the first International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv and invited a delegation of Armenian scholars, led by Richard Hovannisian, to participate. The inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the conference program triggered a reaction from the Turkish side, which sought to cancel the event. Despite pressure from Israeli authorities and the withdrawal of several participants, Professor Charny steadfastly refused to remove the Armenian Genocide from the agenda. This conference marked the first time the Armenian Genocide was addressed at a major international conference on genocide, signifying its entry into Western academia. No less significant was Professor Charny’s scholarly engagement with the topic, culminating in his most recent work titled Israel's Failed Response to the Armenian Genocide (2021).

Professor Charny was a good friend of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. In 2013, he donated his personal library, which comprises about 700 volumes, to the AGMI. In 2015, one of the office rooms at the AGMI was named in honor of Professor Israel Charny.

In 2011, Israel Charny received the Republic of Armenia Presidential Prize “for his extensive and valuable research on the Armenian Genocide, its international recognition, and the issue of denial.”