Meeting With the Legendary Zori Balayan to Discuss the Hebrew Version His Book, “The Right To Die”
< 1 min readYEREVAN, Armenia – On Tuesday evening, February 16, AUA was honored to host the legendary Zori Balayan to mark the Hebrew translation of his book “The Right to Die”, which has been translated into five languages thus far.
Visiting Prof. Yair Auron, of the Open University of Israel, opened the evening with a personal tribute to Mr. Balayan. He spoke about the book’s warm reception in Israel and the universality of its message. Prof. Gregory Areshian then presented some thoughts Mr. Balayan’s insightful contributions as a chronicler of our times and of the importance of bearing witness to history in the making. In his address, Mr. Balayan spoke eloquently and movingly of the shared fate and experiences of the Armenian and Jewish peoples, underscoring that survivors are not only those who directly suffer cruelty but also those around them, who have been scarred by the consequences.
Born in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, Zori Balayan is an Armenian novelist and journalist, sports doctor, and a leader of the Arstakh movement some three decades ago during the last years of the Soviet Union. He graduated from the Ryazan State Medical University in 1963. Balayan is a journalist for the weekly Russian-language publication Literaturnaya Gazeta and was awarded the St. Mesrop Mashtots Medal in 2010.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides US-style education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.
