BOURNOUTIAN GIVE KARABAGH LECTURE IN MEMORY OF MOORAD MOORADIAN AT NAASR

Dr. George Bournoutian will give a lecture entitled “The Historic Armenian Presence in Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh): Documentation and Falsification,” on Thursday, May 6, at 8:00 p.m., at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478. The lecture will in part draw on Bournoutian’s recent trans-lation of Esayi Hasan Jalaleants’ Brief History of the Aghuank Region (Madza Publishers, 2009).
This lecture will be given in memory of Dr. Moorad Mooradian (1936-Sept. 30, 2009), NAASR Board Member from 1991-2004, in recognition of Mooradian’s deep interest in Kara-bagh’s past and present.
Documentation of Armenian Presence Based on Period Sources
Esayi Hasan Jalaleants was the Catholicos or Supreme Patriarch of the Holy See of Ag-huank (Karabagh-Artsakh and Ganje-Utik) located in the Monastery of Gandzasar. His tenure, from 1702 to 1728, coincided with the temporary decline of the Mother See of Armenia at Holy Etchmiadzin.
Esayi’s Brief History of the Aghuank Region, that is, the historic Armenian provinces of Artsakh and Utik, concentrates on the Armeno-Georgian efforts against the incursions by Lezgi tribesmen and their hope for the arrival of the Russian army to liberate them from Muslim rule. This important text has now been translated into English for the first time, with a detailed in-troduction, extensive notes, and accompanying original Armenian text, by Prof. George Bour-noutian.
Esayi’s Brief History also confirms the large Armenian presence in the Karabagh-Artsakh region long before its conquest by the Russians in the nineteenth century. This volume consti-tutes a part of Bournoutian’s decades-long effort to provide scholarly and accurate documenta-tion of the Armenian presence in Karabagh and counter attempts to falsify history, to corrupt primary sources, and efface Armenians from the history of the region.
Prof. George Bournoutian is the author or translator of numerous other books, including A Concise History of the Armenian People, Two Chronicles on the History of Karabagh, The Travel Ac-counts of Simeon of Poland, Tigran II and Rome, and Jambr. He is Senior Professor of History at Io-na College and has taught Armenian history at Columbia University, Tufts University, New York University, Rutgers University, the University of Connecticut, Ramapo College, and Glen-dale Community College.
More information about Bournoutian’s lecture, Esayi’s Brief History, or NAASR and its programs for the furtherance of Armenian studies, research, and publication may be had by calling 617-489-1610, faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

Belmont, MA
April 15, 2010

Maec A. Mamigonian