Azadouhi Sachian-Kalaidjian
AZADOUHI SACHIAN-KALAIDJIAN
The youngest of the five daughters of Assadour Sachian, the well-known hero from Hadjin, was born in 1937 in Beirut. She completed her primary education in 1950 at Sahag-Mesrobian school in Nor Hadjin and her secondary education at the Armenian Evangelical College in 1955. During 1955-1957 she attended Haigazian University and got her sophomore diploma in 1957. Azadouhi attended the following universities and graduated with B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Language and Literature: Beirut College for Women currently LAU in 1960, University of Michigan (USA) in 1963, American University of Beirut in 1980. She followed the most up-to-date English teaching programs and training courses at the University of Reading (England) in 1982, Columbia and UCLA Universities (USA) and at Concordia and York Universities (Canada) in 1982. She taught English at LAU from 1960 – 2007 until her retirement. Azadouhi Simonian has been highly appreciated by her students who elected her as “The Best Teacher of the Year” in April 2000. Throughout her professional life she was a mentor and a friend to her students and encouraged them to achieve excellent academic successes. She made great efforts to provide the students with scholarships. Her recommendations to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, AGBU and other scholarship funds, including LAU’s grants, served to facilitate the education of many Armenian students. Today a large number of young people remember her with gratitude for the role played in providing them a high quality university education. Aside from her involvement in the life of university students, Azadouhi contributed to the Sahagian-Levon Meguerditchian College’s English Language Program as a coordinator. For twenty years she served the institution in raising the standard of English language instruction during the term of service of her husband, educator and writer Bebo Simonian. This work was done on a voluntary basis for the advancement of the school’s academic life. Azadouhi Simonian is active in the Armenian Community life through her lectures as well as through her public speaking and publication of articles on educational, psychological, cultural and family oriented subjects. She has been a member of the Advisory Boards of the Jinishian Memorial Program (1999 – 2006) and Howard Karaguezian Foundation since 2008. She has her two books published by Christian Education Department of the Catholicosate of Cilicia called “The Armenian Woman, Family, Youth” in 1988 and “Youth and Education” in 1995. In year 2000 she published an extended researched article on the first Armenian feminist writer Srpouhi Dussap in English. She published a book called” The Armenian Woman and Culture” in 2013, which is a compilation of articles written in English and in Armenian on prominent women in Armenian Literature and culture. Azadouhi Simonian served as a member of the Editorial Board of the women’s journal “Yeridassart Hayouhi” from 1965 – 1968 until its final closure. The Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I proclaimed 2010 as ‘the Year of the Armenian woman”. On that occasion, she was honored with the St. Mesrob-Mashdots award by the Catholicos and encyclical as appreciation for her services to the Armenian community in Lebanon. On November 25 a conference was organized by the Catholicosate. Azadouhi Simonian was one of the participants, and she spoke on the topic of “Where is the Armenian woman with respect to the present world’s women’s movements?” On April 29, 2017 the Center for Armenian Diaspora Studies of Haigazian University organized a conference and Azadouhi Simonian spoke on the topic of “Armenian Women in Different Leadership Roles throughout Armenian History.” During another conference by Diaspora studies on “The Armenians in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia” on April 12, 2018, Simonian presented in English “The newspaper Artemis, the Defender of Women’s Rights” (the founder and editor: Marie Beylerian, 1902-1904.) In 2018, Azadouhi Simonian was receipient of “The Encyclical of Blessing” by His Holiness Karekin II, the Catholicos of all Armenians, for her immense input in the the Armenian community culturally and educationally.