On October 20 and 23, meetings with a world known Armenian-American historian Professor Richard Hovhannisian took place at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation.

On October 20, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute hosted the participants of the annual "Teach for All" international conference program. The guest speaker of the event was Prof. Hovhannisian. After welcoming the guests, AGMI Director Dr. Harutyun Marutyan awarded Professor Richard Hovhannisian with “Henry Morgenthau” medal for his significant contribution to the study and recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

On October 23, at the conference hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Professor Richard Hovhannisian delivered another public lecture.

The lecture was titled “Development of the Historiography of the Armenian Genocide”. The lecture was followed by questions and answers and discussion.

Richard Hovhannisian was born into a family of Armenian Genocide survivors and after receiving education in history, he devoted himself to the study of history of Armenian people and the Middle East. The significant part of his works is devoted to the study of the First Armenian Republic and also the Armenian Genocide.

In 1986 Hovhannisian was appointed as Head of Chair of Modern Armenian History at the University of California. Professor Hovannisian is a Guggenheim Fellow which had received for his contribution to the advancement of Armenology. He is still a member of the board of directors in a number of scientific and civil organizations. In 2010-11, Richard Hovhannisian was awarded the "Best Lecturer" award by the University of California Alumni Association.

He is the author of dozens of monographs and numerous articles. Prof. Hovhannissian has delivered lectures, media presentations, interviews in more than forty countries, presenting the issues of the Armenian Genocide and general history.

Richard Hovhannisian is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation.


About Richard G. Hovannisian

Richard G. Hovannisian is the past Holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University in Orange County. He is also works with the Shoah Foundation on integrating a thousand Armenian survivor testimonies which he and his UCLA students recorded over a period of more than thirty years.

A native of Tulare, California, Hovannisian received his B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and Ph.D. in history from UCLA. A member of the UCLA faculty since the 1960s, he organized both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian history and served as the Associate Director of UCLA's Center for Near Eastern Studies for twenty years.

Professor Hovannisian is a Guggenheim Fellow and has received many honors for his scholarship, civic activities, and support of individual and collective human rights, including several medals and encyclicals from the Catoghikoses of the Armenian Church. In 1990, prior to Armenia’s independence, Hovannisian was elected to the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, becoming the first social scientist living abroad to be so honored. He was subsequently awarded the Movses Khorenatsi Medal from the Republic of Armenia and the Mesrop Mashtots Medal from the Republic of Nagorno-Karabgh (Artsakh). Most recently, he has been made “Prince of Cilicia” and has been recognized by the California State Legislature and the City of Los Angeles, National Assn. for Armenian Studies and Research, Society for Armenian Studies, Armenian National Committee of Australia, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Hamzakayin Association, City of Lyon, France, and the Pontic Association of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Richard Hovannisian is a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) and has given more than 2,500 lectures and media presentations on Armenia history and issues in 45 countries.. He represented the State of California on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) for 15 years, and has served as a consultant to the California State Board of Education, authoring the chapter on the Armenian Genocide in the State's Social Studies Model Curriculum on Human Rights and Genocide.

Professor Hovannisian has published more than 30 books, including Armenia on the Road to Independence and The Republic of Armenia (in 4 volumes and in Russian and Armenian translations); 6 volumes on the Armenian Genocide; and 14 volumes on Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces in the Ottoman Empire (currently being translated into Turkish in Istanbul).