Yeghia Jerejian

YEGHIA JEREJIAN

Historian, political and public figure Yeghia Garabed Jerejian was born in 1957 in Beirut into a traditional Armenian family from Hadjin. He attended the AGBU Levon G. Nazarian School and then the AGBU Hovagimian-Manoogian School. He pursued his higher education in Armenia completing his studies at the Dentistry Department of Yerevan Medical University in 1984. The year 1975 entangled him in the civil war in Lebanon participating in the organization of the defense of the Armenian settlements. As a young active man, he was engaged in the public activities of the community in Beirut and Yerevan, particularly demonstrating his organizational skills in the student organizations within the SDHP activities. Upon his return from Yerevan to Beirut, he ran his dental clinic, operating actively in public life. He was a member of the Ararad Daily editorial staff, and a former editor of the “Ararad Youth” periodical. After the disastrous earthquake in Armenia, Yeghia Jerejian assumed the position at the “Lebanese Armenian Relief Committee for the victims of Armenia’s earthquake” aiming to build the bridge between the Lebanese-Armenian community and those affected by the earthquake in Armenia. During this period, he closely collaborated with the participants of the Artsakh Liberation Movement. In 1991, he was appointed Executive Chairman of the SDHP of Lebanon. From 1992-2009 Yeghia Jerejian was elected as a Member of the Lebanese Parliament from Beirut District four times in a row. As part of the Parliamentary delegation, he participated in numerous negotiations and assemblies in the cities of Damascus, Paris, Doha (Qatar), Yerevan, and Monroe. From 2001_2002 he was a member of the Standing Committee of Parliamentary Partnership initiated by the RA Parliament. From 1995-2017, he was a member of the SDHP Central Committee. He is the author of around 20 scientific research articles of historical content and about 100 reviews of historical works in Armenian and foreign languages. He is a permanent guest at the scientific conferences dedicated to the contemporary issues of Armenian history and he has lectured at Universities in Damascus, Aleppo, Oman, Nicosia, Cairo, London, Paris, Nice, Lisbon, and Los Angeles. In 2019, the RA National Academy of Sciences awarded Yeghia Jerejian the title of an Honorary Doctor for his significant contribution to Armenian studies, particularly to the study of the history of the Armenian Liberation Movement. In 2015 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the books “Medzn Mourat” (2016, Yerevan), “S.Vahagn” (2017, Beirut), “Pandukht” (2018, Beirut), “Jirair” (2019) were published under one umbrella titled “Firehearts”. 

Publications

  1. Martyrs on Bloody Path. Beirut, 1989.
  2. The Armenian genocide is a cry to the human conscience, Beirut, 1985 (Arabic version).
  3.  Panturanism. Beirut, 1998.
  1.   The Ottoman Parliamentary Elections of 1912 and the Western Armenians. Beirut, 2007.
  2.   From the Ones Who Built the Road to Eternity. Beirut, 2014.

Yeghia Jerejian is married to Houry Patapoutian. Since 2011, the Jerejian family has permanently resided in Yerevan, Armenia.