Dr. Hovanissian’s special presentation in Trumbull, Conn.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Church of the Holy Ascension
1460 Huntington Tpke.
Trumbull, CT 06611
Contact: Kit Kaolian
Tel: 203-372-5770
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Dr. Hovanissian’s special presentation in Trumbull, Conn.

TRUMBULL, CT At Armenian Church of the Holy Ascension, Dr. Richard
Hovannisian’s Nov. 3rd presentation on the people and culture
remaining in historic Western Armenia left the over 50 attendees from
NY and CT wanting more. “… the Hovanissian lecture was absolutely
fantastic.” emailed William Papzian.

After a luncheon and a surprise birthday cake and wishes for
Dr. Hovannisian, a fantastic journey embarked as Dr. Hovannisian began
his multi-media presentation.

He opened with Smyrna, the showing of a brief video which was a
collage of old photos and footage of life in Smyrna up to and
including the burning of Smyrna in September 1922. Smyrna was a port
for much trade and was in the vanguard: In as early as the 1840’s the
Armenians in Smyrna had a newspaper, something pretty much unheard of
in the Ottoman Empire. A discussion of many of the provinces of
historic Western Armenia followed with engaging discussion and
interesting photos.

Near the end of Hovannisian’s June 2013 trip to Turkey, his group
headed north to the Black Sea into the mountains in search of the
Hamshens. The video of the discussions with the Hamshen people was
intriguing. The Hamshens speak a dialect of Armenian, but do not
consider themselves Armenian.

The video footage of the interactions with some of the last few
remaining Armenians in Dikranagerd was enlightening and also humorous
at times. Dr. Hovannisian is UCLA emeritus professor of Armenian and
Near Eastern History and has authored or edited over 20 books. He
sold and autographed some of his books after the presentation and Q &
A session in the church hall. One can look forward to his next volume
which will focus on Asia Minor. Following the event Stepan Piligian
wrote on the church Facebook page: “He is a national treasure of the
Armenian community who has led the academic and scholastic work for
decades. His contributions are profound and will continue to inspire
for generations. It is wonderful that Holy Ascension sponsored this
event.”

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