Digital Library of Armenian Literature Hosts Zareh Mutafian Movie Screening

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On October 2, 2015, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Digital Library of Armenian Literature hosted a movie screening about French-Armenian painter Zareh Mutafian. The film was introduced by the painter’s son, Armen (Claude) Mutafian.

Zareh Mutafian was born in 1907 at Ünye, a port on the Ottoman Black Sea Coast. During the 1915 Armenian Genocide, his whole family was massacred. Left as an orphan, he finally joined the Near East Relief, first in Samsun, then in Greece. In 1923, he settled in Italy, by the Mekhitarist fathers who had a branch in Milan, which gave him the opportunity to study painting at the Brera Academy. In the following years, he relocated to Geneva and then Paris, where he soon became an important member of the active Armenian intelligentsia.

His son, Armen (Claude) Mutafian was born in 1942 in Clamart, France, and is a mathematician and historian who specializes in Armenian history. He served as an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Senior Lecturer for the Paris 13 University in Villetaneuse. Since 1980, he has devoted himself to the study of Armenian history, particularly the relations between Armenia and its neighboring countries. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University and is the author of several books on Armenian history.

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 a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.