On March 14, Edik and Tatevik Minasyan presented their books “Armenian Women During the Years of the Heroic Battle of the Late 19^th Century and Early 20^th Century” and “Armenian Heroines”, which were published under the sponsorship of the Ministries of Diaspora and Culture of the Republic of Armenia.

Among the participants of the event were Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, Deputy Minister of Culture Nerses Ter-Vardanyan, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Manuk Mkrtchyan, Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) Ashot Melkonyan, Director of the Institute of Literature of the NAS RA Vardan Devrikyan, as well as scholars and guests.

Greeting the participants of the presentation, Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan stated the following: “In light of the month-long celebrations dedicated to women, we decided to organize the publication of Edik Minasyan’s two fundamental books devoted to Armenian women and present them to the Armenian public. At the crucial and difficult moments in the history of the Armenian people, Armenian women have participated in the struggle for survival, and this shows how brave, heroic and goal-oriented Armenian women are. They have always been respected as saints. They have been virtuous, honest and patient. Many Armenian women have stood by the side of freedom fighters and fought against the ignoble enemy. At moments of battles and catastrophes, they have become brave soldiers and have defended their homes and children. In these two books, Edik Minasyan has tried to identify and comprehensively present these kinds of Armenian women.”

The Minister emphasized that the books had already sparked great interest among the academic community and the public at large. “We need to do everything we can to make sure the Armenian women presented in these books become more widely recognized and especially among the new generations,” the Minister said.

Afterwards, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Manuk Mkrtchyan congratulated the author and awarded him with the Gold Medal of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.

Deputy Minister of Culture Nerses Ter-Vardanyan stated that all efforts needed to be made to make the content of the books accessible to the public.

Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan attached importance to the irreplaceable and invaluable role of Armenian women in the history of the Armenian people and stated the following: “Minasyan has added something new to Armenian historiography with his books devoted to the lives and courageous acts of Armenian women who showed active participation in the struggle of the Armenian people for liberation in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century.”

Among the speakers at the event were academician of the NAS RA, Director of the Institute of History of the NAS RA Ashot Melkonyan; Associate Professor of the Chair of Armenian History at Yerevan State University (YSU) Karine Yeghiazaryan; Director of the Institute of Literature of the NAS RA Vardan Devrikyan; Professor, Head of the YSU Chair of Armenian History, editor of the book Artak Movsisyan; Professor, Head of the YSU Chair of Armenian Literature Samvel Muradyan; Professor of the YSU Chair of Political Science Henzel Manucharyan; editor of the book Mary Hovhannisyan; Associate Professor of the YSU Chair of Armenian History Marine Gevorgyan; Diaspora Armenian poet Anoush Naggashian and writer Vrezh Sarukhanyan. The speakers stated that, by becoming familiar with the Armenian heroines of the past, their working styles and endeavors, as well as their pro-national activities and actions for national preservation, the Armenian women of today will work and try to be like them, and this will help Armenian women always maintain the spirit of the nation.

At the end of the event, author of the books Edik Minasyan expressed his words of gratitude and stated the following: “I would like to express special gratitude to the Ministry of Diaspora and personally to Minister Hranush Hakobyan for providing me with the opportunity to publish these books. Armenian women are truly heroines. In light of this, the great Garegin Nzhdeh was right when he said the following: “The fate of nations should be sought in the palms of mothers.” Consequently, the identity of children depends on the upbringing that Armenian women provide to their children.”

Edik Minasyan also expressed gratitude to the Ministries of Culture and Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia and Yerevan State University for helping publish the books.

The books are designed for specialists conducting research on the national liberation struggle of the Armenian nation. During the event, the participants suggested modifying the books, translating them into Western Armenian and republishing them, as well as shoot films, prepare programs and print booklets to make the heroic women more recognizable.