CHSS Hosts a Talk։ Life and Work of Garabed Kapikian

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On April 27, Dr. Robert Sukiasyan, researcher at the Armenian Studies Institute of Yerevan State University, and indexer at the USC Shoah Foundation, presented the first part of the life and work of Garabed Kapikian during his talk hosted by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the American University of Armenia (AUA). 

In his presentation, Dr. Sukiasyan presented the life and accomplishments of Garabed Kapikian, an Armenian pedagogue, ethnographer, philologist and public figure from Sebastia. He depicted Kapikian’s education, early political activism, and imprisonment, as well as his scholarly achievements and contributions to the fields of history, botany, folklore, linguistics, and lexicography. 

Dr. Sukiasyan narrated Kapikian’s educational background, pedagogical career at the Aramian College of Sebastia, and his political involvement as a member of the Social Democrat Hunchakian party prior to the 1915 Armenian Genocide. He then elaborated on Kapikian’s miraculous survival during the mass deportations of 1915, and his teaching activities in Jerusalem in the aftermath of the genocide. Dr. Sukiasyan also discussed Kapikian’s three noteworthy works, Parkirk Sebastahai Kavaralezvi (Dictionary of the Dialect of Sebastia Armenians), Hai Pusashkharh (Armenian Flora), and Yeghernabadum Pokr Hayots ev Norin Mayrakaghakin Sebastio (The Story of Genocide in Lesser Armenia and its Capital City of Sebastia). In the latter piece, Kapikian depicted the appalling events of the Armenian genocide as he and others personally witnessed. 

At the conclusion of the presentation, Dr. Sukiasyan took questions from students, faculty, and friends of AUA in attendance. The presentation was part of AUA’s commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.