On the evening of September 13, the Sayat-Nova Hall of Raffi Armenian Sport and Cultural Complex in Tehran hosted the presentation of the book “Integrated History of the Armenian Community of Iran” by researcher, community and cultural activist, Dr. Edik Baghdasarian (E. Germanik).

As reported the Armenian Sport and Cultural Complex to Hayern Aysor, the event began with “The Lord’s Prayer” by the Complex’s choir, after which director of the Complex Vigen Mandani delivered his welcoming remarks and gave the floor to deputy director Roubik Sardarian and the book’s author Edik Baghdasarian.

Dr. Sardarian shared stories about the life and career of Dr. E. Germanik. He stated that Germanik’s first book was the translation of the book “History of Armenia” in two volumes, which sparked great reactions among the Armenians of Iran as it presented the book of famous historians of Soviet Armenia in Persian. Sardarian informed that during the reign of Shah, Germanik received his elementary education at Khoreni School in Heshmatieh district and that the director of the school was a progressive individual who had his positive impact on many people, including Edik Baghdasarian. The Sako Armenian Bookstore, which was located in front of the St. Mary’s Church, served as a great source of information for Edik Baghdasarian. The bookstore managed to import books from Soviet Armenia during the days of the dictatorship of the Shah and introduce Iranian-Armenian intellectuals to the approaches of Soviet Armenian scholars and the events taking place in Soviet Armenia in general.

The speech was followed by the showing of a 15-minute video in which Germanik presented his 138 published and translated books, including 98 historical and cultural books, books devoted to the Armenian Genocide and society, as well as books devoted to technology and particularly computers.

The author of the books also gave a speech in which he expressed his attitude towards his working conditions, issues of different periods and various phenomena. He highlighted the motives behind the publication of so many books and talked about his future plans. Based in Toronto and with certain opportunities, he has planned to translate several books into English, Armenian and Persian.

The concert featured performances of three songs by the Complex’s choir led by artistic director Hamlet Khachaturian, and Magdine Minasian, one of the representatives of the Complex’s cultural unit, recited Armenian poems beautifully.

At the end, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iran Artashes Tumanyan gave a speech in which he highly appreciated Baghdasarian’s works and sincerely admitted that he hadn’t been aware of the publications. He also expressed his words of encouragement to the Complex and the Armenian community of Iran.