Lebanese-Armenian intellectual Hagop Kouyoumdjian receives William Saroyan Medal of the RA Ministry of Diaspora

Hayern Aysor’s interlocutor, Lebanese-Armenian intellectual, architect and reciter Hagop Kouyoumdjian was born in Beirut and attended the Hovakmian-Manoogian School. In 1971, he graduated from the State Engineering University of Armenia (Polytechnic) with a degree in architecture.

My teachers helped me pursue my studies in Armenia and would do everything they could to instill in us the feeling of patriotism. They were the generation of Armenians who were saved from the Armenian Genocide and always hoped to return to the Homeland,” Hagop Kouyoumdjian recalls and adds that, in those years, studying in Armenia was a dream for them and that he and his three classmates decided to receive a higher education in Armenia.

After his studies, Hagop Kouyoumdjian returned to Beirut and worked for architecture firms where he reached the level of the administration throughout the years.

In 1985, as Hagop Kouyoumdjian mentioned, he established his architecture firm. During those years, which coincided with the Lebanese Civil War, he experienced ups-and-downs. However, despite all that, he managed to achieve success in his field.

Throughout his career, Hagop Kouyoumdjian has presented various architectural designs in Lebanon and countries of the Arab World.

His designs have been used to build the complexes of the S.O.S. children’s villages in Syria and Lebanon. He has also designed and built tall apartment buildings, the buildings for offices and villas.

Hagop Kouyoumdjian has been captivated by recitation since childhood. During school events, he would always stand out with his perfect recitation of poems. Teachers noticed his talent, always encouraged him and suggested that he recite during school ceremonies.

During his years of study in Armenia, he would often recite on different occasions. Silva Kaputikyan, Rafael Aramyan, Leven Mirijanyan, Paruyr Sevak and Mkrtich Koryun, as well as other intellectuals were impressed by his recitation, praised and encouraged him.

Between 1967 and 1971, Olya Sargsyan would invite him to recite poems along with renowned artists Vladimir Abajyan, Babken Nersisyan, Metaksya Simonyan, Varduhi Varderesyan and many other artists during the performances of ArmPhilharmonia’s “HyeHamerg” (ArmConcert) art group.

Hagop Kouyoumdjian says he is lucky to have been able to perform with great Armenian masters on the same stage and adds that it was during those years when his thought of dedicating himself to recitation was reinforced. It was also during those years when Shaheh Taturyan, director of radio show broadcasts for Diaspora Armenians at Armenian State Radio, offered him to recite poems by Eastern Armenians and especially Western Armenians during the shows broadcast for Diaspora Armenians. When Kouyoumdjian was writing his diploma work, Olya Sargsyan suggested that ArmConcert sponsor a solo concert devoted to Hagop Kouyoumdjian.

However, due to his busy schedule, Hagop Kouyoumdjian declined the offer, but remembers with regret to this day. Afterwards, he continued to perform on stage until mid-1971 when he finished his studies and returned to Lebanon.

During his visits to Yerevan between the years 1978 and 1997, he would recite the poems of Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian poets and his own poems during radio shows upon the proposal of the radio show hosts.

“In 1987, President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Vardges Petrosyan invited me to Yerevan to perform for the Armenian audience in Armenia.

Throughout the years, I have performed in all the Armenian-populated communities of the Armenian Diaspora, stretching from the Middle East to North America.

I was especially lucky in the fall of 2012 when the Ministries of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic invited me to perform at Yerevan Komitas Chamber Music Hall and the Youth Palace in Stepanakert, as well as In Vanadzor. I recited poems devoted to the universe, the Homeland, as well as poems about love and the Armenia people.

In the years that followed, I was invited to perform in Gyumri, Tehran, Amman and Nicosia,” says Hagop Kouyoumdjian.

Hagop Kouyoumdjian has many favorite poets and poems and has a hard time setting aside any one of them. The poets and lyrics that are close to his heart are the ones in which there is a balance of logic and emotions and reflect the deep, subtle and often invisible sides of human and universal crises.

It should be mentioned that, alongside recitation, Hagop Kouyoumdjian has also been an active member of Armenian national, political and particularly cultural organizations of Lebanon for many years. Holding responsible offices, he has tried to support the preservation of the Armenian identity of Diaspora Armenians and the strengthening of their courage to resist. The impetus for his activities and dedication was his national pride, and the purpose was to make every Diaspora Armenian feel proud so that his or her soul is filled with pride.

He believes in a strong Armenia, the major bedrock on which Armenians need to rely and receive strength, the bedrock to which Hagop Kouyoumdjian is connected with great love and deep conscience.

Instead of an epilogue

Recently, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan awarded Hagop Kouyoumdjian with the William Saroyan Medal of the RA Ministry of Diaspora for disseminating Armenian culture and promoting the development of the Armenia-Diaspora partnership abroad. The artist stressed the following about this:

“I am grateful for the fact that the Minister of Diaspora appreciated my longstanding efforts with such an award. I hope the foundations for cooperation with the RA Ministry of Diaspora become stronger and the cooperation grows. In general, I praise the activities of the Ministry. It is safe to say that the RA Ministry of Diaspora is sincerely continuing the task of the former State Committee on Cultural Relations with Diaspora Armenians to enhance Armenia-Diaspora relations.”

Gevorg Chichyan

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