Professor Richard G. Hovannisian, editor of the newly published “Armenian Communities of Persia/Iran: History, Trade, Culture,” will present the new book in a discussion at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles. The book launch event will be held on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles, located at 117 S Louise St, Glendale, CA 91205.
“Armenian Communities of Persia/Iran: History, Trade, Culture,” a 670-page volume, is the fifteenth and final volume in the “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces” series, edited by Professor Hovannisian of the University of California and Chapman University.
The volume covers the Armenian presence in Iran from antiquity to contemporary times; includes Armenian-Iranian relations from the pre-Christian era to the Middle Ages; the Maku and Tabriz districts, with the monasteries of St. Thaddeus, St. Stepanos, and Tsortsor; the importance of Persian Azarbayjan/Atrpatakan in the Armenian and Iranian revolutionary movements; the displacements and massacres of the Christian inhabitants of the Urmia, Salmast, and Khoy districts during the Turkish offensives in World War I; as well as the leadership in relief efforts of Archbishop Nerses Melik-Tangian of Atrpatakan (Tabriz).
Another section of “Armenian Communities of Persia/Iran” assesses the impressive, all-Armenian municipality of New Julfa in Iranian-Armenian history, with its painters and artisans, unique churches, and monastic complex (the vank), its merchants who were prominent in the international commercial networks from East Asia to Russia and Western Europe, and its distinguished Armenian theater.
The volume concludes with a pictorial essay featuring paintings of New Julfa and outlying districts by the noted Julfan artist Sumbat. Other chapters assess the interactions between the current Armenian leadership in Tehran with the Iranian authorities, and the socio-economic integration of Armenian Iranians in Southern California. The volume is enhanced by a number of color illustrations.
This fifteenth volume is the only one in the series that concentrates on Armenian communities outside the Ottoman Empire and is dedicated to Dr. Vartiter K. Hovannisian, a constant companion and professional collaborator since the very beginning of the series and long before.
Admission is free and open to the public. Participants can purchase copies of the volume at the event.
A reception will follow the book presentation.
