On July 7, 2021 Haigazian University marked the centenary of the martyrdom of its namesake, Rev. Prof. Armenag Haigazian (1870 – 1921, Hadjin) who died in Harput, Turkey, on July 7, 1921, with a series of commemorative events in Lebanon and Armenia.
Regarded as “the most prominent Armenian educator in the Near East” by the New York Times, Armenag Haigazian was a theologian, educator, scientist, linguist and musician, who earned his B.A. degree from the Central Turkey College, Aintab, in 1889 at the age of nineteen, and his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Yale University in 1898, at the age of twenty eight.
His memory was honored through virtual and physical events; a musical video clip “Hov Arek” by Gomidas, performed by Lebanese guitarist Megerdich Mikayelian and Armenian Soprano Lianna Mikayelian was launched on the University’s official online platforms, a special story feature on the legacy of Armenag Haigazian was broadcasted on the Lebanese Noursat TV channel, a tribute of laying flowers and a moment of silence was observed in the University’s campus. A most meaningful commemoration was held at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan. After the opening words of Institute Director Haroutyun Marutyan, University President Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian presented the life, accomplishments, deportation and death of Rev. Dr. Armenag Haigazian, at the conference hall of the Museum, which was followed by a procession to the Genocide Monument (Dzidzernagapert) and laying of flowers and singing of a hymn that was sung by Prof. Haigazian just prior to his death in Harput (Kharpert in Armenian) on July 7, 1921.
It is worth noting that the various commemorative events were covered by a number of local Lebanese, and Armenian media outlets, and the news was widely shared in different academic and ecclesial communities in many countries.
Rev. Prof. Armenag Haigazian was arrested in Konya by the Kemalist forces in May 1921, and died in Harput on July 7, 1921 after suffering from typhus during his forcible deportation, and intentional delayed medical treatment.
Years later, in 1955, to honor the great memory of this exemplary man, with a donation by his daughter Mary and son-in-law Avak (Steven) Mehagian, and the help of Stephen Philibosian, Haigazian University was founded in Beirut, Lebanon, by the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE) and the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA). It was named after him!
Read more on Armenag Haigazian on this link http://www.haigazian.edu.lb/about-haigazian/our-history-heritage/
Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
