Prof. Richard Hovannisian to Speak About Smyrna at Chapman University
UCLA—Armenian Smyrna/Izmir: The Aegean Communities was released on August 1 by Mazda Publishers. The volume presents the proceedings of the eleventh in the UCLA conference series on “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces.” Edited by Professor Richard Hovannisian, Armenian Smyrna/Izmir includes fourteen chapters and numerous photographs relating to the Armenian presence in this important Aegean manufacturing, trading, and intellectual center from the Middle Ages to the destruction of the city in the Great Fire of 1922. The intentionally-set fire broke out and consumed the Armenian Quarter four days after the Turkish Nationalist forces had occupied Smyrna on September 9, 1922. The publication of the volume coincides with the 90th anniversary of that calamity, which will be observed this year both by Armenian and the Greek communities worldwide.
Previous volumes in the UCLA series edited by Richard Hovannisian include 1) Armenian Van/Vaspurakan; 2) Bitlis and Mush; 3) Kharpert (these three titles now out of print); 4) Karin/Erzerum), 5) Sebastia/Sivas); 6) Tigranakert/Diarbekir and Urfa; 7) Cilicia; 8) Pontus and the Black Sea; 9) Constantinople; and 10) Kars and Ani.
Inquiries about ordering copies of Armenian Smyrna/Izmir: The Aegean Communities, and previous titles in this series may be obtained from Mazda Publishers or directly from Professor Hovannisian at hovannis@history.ucla.edu.
Hovannisian at Chapman University on September 5
Hovannisian will lead off the Fall Lecture Series at Chapman University on Wednesday, September 5, at 7 p.m., with an illustrated presentation titled “War and Ethnic Cleansing: Smyrna 1922-2012.” The program coincides with the 90th anniversary of Great Fire and the end of its thriving Greek and Armenian communities in Western Asia Minor in September 1922.
The event is sponsored by Chapman University’s Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education; Stern Chair in Holocaust Education; and Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library, under the Direction of Dr. Marilyn Harran. The lecture will be held in Beckman Hall, Room 404, of the Bush Conference Center. Parking is available in the Fred L. Barrera Structure (P7) on Sycamore Street and the Lastinger Structure (P4) on Walnut Avenue on the Chapman campus in Orange, California.
Professor Hovannisian has been invited to serve as the first distinguished Chancellor’s Fellow in the Department of History for the Fall Semester, during which he will offer a 15-week course for history majors on the Armenian Genocide and its historiography.
