29.06.2024


Armenian Ambassador to Italy Tsovinar Hambardzumyan, who visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute on June 29th, generously donated exclusive archival documents pertaining to the Hamidian massacres to the museum's collection. These significant documents were received from Don Vincenzo Masolo, a monk and lecturer at the seminary in Chieti, Italy. AGMI Director Edita Gzoyan expressed sincere gratitude for this donation, highlighting that this marks the second occasion RA Ambassador to Italy Tsovinar Hambardzumyan has contributed valuable archival materials to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. She further announced that AGMI researchers will meticulously study and subsequently publish these documents.

The Armenian Ambassador to Italy elaborated that the archival materials primarily consist of Italian documents related to Salvatore Lilli, an Italian Franciscan monk who bore witness to the Hamidian pogroms and was blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

During the event, Shushan Khachatryan, Head of AGMI's Armenian Genocide Victims’ Documentation and Data Collection Department, delivered a speech highlighting Father Salvatore Lilli's compelling testimonies about the persecutions and massacres of Armenians and Christians during the 1894-1895 period under Sultan Abdul Hamid's rule in the Ottoman Empire. Tragically, Father Lilli was killed by Ottoman soldiers on November 19, 1895, along with seven Armenian companions.

Shushan Khachatryan concluded by announcing a collaborative effort with Italian-Armenian authors Siranush Quaranta and Carlo Coppola to publish a book based on the extensive study of this newly acquired archive.