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OBITUARY: VAHAN HOVANESIAN

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VAHAN HOVANESIAN

1956 – 2014

Vahan Hovanesian, a long-time ARF Bureau member and most recently, Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany passed away on Sunday 28th December after a long illness.

Vahan Hovanesian was born on August 16, 1956 in Yerevan.
He graduated with degrees in history and archaeology from the Moscow Pedagogical Institute in 1978 and received his Ph.D in history. From 1978-1980 he served in the Soviet army.

From 1980 to 1989 he worked as a research assistant and later as a head of the scientific research division in the Erebuni Museum. In 1989 he worked as a research assistant in the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography under the Academy of Sciences.

From 1990 to 1992 he was an active member of the Artsakh liberation movement.

From 1990 to 1992 he was a member of the ARF Central Committee of Armenia, becoming one of the first leaders of the organization in Armenia when it resurfaced during the latter days of the Soviet Union. In 1992 he became a member of the ARF Bureau, but in 1994 he was arrested after then president Levon Ter-Petrosian started a campaign of persecution against the ARF and shut down the party’s activities in the homeland.

After Ter-Petrosian’s resignation in 1997, Hovanessian served as adviser to Armenia’s new president Robert Kocharian and headed the Commission on issues of Local Self-Government until 1999.

In 1999, he was elected a member of Armenia’s Parliament, becoming chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and National Security and Internal Affairs, and served until 2003 in the ARF’s parliamentary caucus.

On May 25, 2003 he was re-elected by the proportional system from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and elected Vice-President of the National Assembly on June 12.

He was also a member of both the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Faction and its bureau.

On May 12, 2007 he was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly by the proportional system from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

On June 7, 2007 he was elected Vice-President of the National Assembly and on February 28, 2008 he resigned, after the ARF left the governing coalition in objection to the state’s plans to sign the Armenia-Turkey Protocols.

On 28 December 2013, Hovanesian was appointed as Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany.

A 7th day memorial service will be offered for his soul at St Yeghiche Armenian Church on Sunday 4th January 2015 after Divine Liturgy.

*****

Rest In Peace Mrs. Siran Manoukian

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Rest In Peace Mrs. Siran Manoukian

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing away of Mrs Siran Manoukian, the wife of late Mr. Yeghiche Manoukian, in whose memory St Yeghiche Church was named, on 18th December 2014. Mrs. Manoukian mother of Vahe, Vatche, Varouj, Levon and Raffi, was born in Sivas (capital of the province of Armenia Minor) on January 1921. May God accepts her through his Heavenly gates and bless her soul and comfort all her family members.

The funeral service will be held at St Yeghiche Armenian Church, attended by His Holiness Karekin II, on Monday 22nd December 2014 at 12:00 noon.

It will be followed by a private family burial.

A book of condolences will be available this Sunday at St Yeghiche Armenian Church at Cranley Gardens, Kensington London SW7 3BB and a memorial service will be offered at the end of Divine Liturgy.