The Philological Faculty proceeds with its public lectures by the Diaspora-Armenian intellectuals.
On this occasion the future pedagogues had a brilliant opportunity to listen to the renowned linguist, specialist of Eastern languages and culture Zaven Yekavyan.
The Lebanese-born Armenian is currently a professor of applied linguistics at the Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle University; he delivered his lecture on the subject “Armenology Today” in which he discussed the Departments of Armenology, their present state and activity in Paris, Holland, Sweden, England, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Greece and in other countries.
The Head of the Armenian communities of the “Galoust Gyulbenkyan” Foundation touched upon the topics of work undertaken by the Foundation in the fields of scientific publishing and culture. Besides, he introduced the “Matenagirq Hayoc/Book of Armenia” which is a series of 50 multivolume books, the 12 volumes of which have already been published.
Turning to the students of the Philological Faculty Zaven Yekavyan said, “Being a good Armenologist is not a guarantee of patriotism. This is a big danger, so try not to ever get deceived. Today, a lot of Armenian authors gladly falsify our history. Armenology is a limitless field of study, and you –the soldiers of Mesrop Mashtots, must study and preserve Armenology with all its depth”.
In addition, lecture was marked with the attendance of the chief editor of the “Azg” newspaper Hakob Avetiqyan and the representative of the “Galust Gyulbenkyan” Foundation Alexander Virabyan.
The University Chancellor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Rouben Mirzakhanyan, on the decision of the Academic Council, granted Zaven Yekavyan the title of “Honorary Doctor” of Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan.
Further on, the Professor of the Department of History and Theory of Arts and Culturology, Doctor of Arts, Professor Hravard Hakobyan represented Zaven Yekavyan’s work to the Academic Council members and mentioned that he is the REAL Armenian living in the Diaspora.
“It is a great honour for me to introduce this honest Armenian who devoted his whole life to Armenology and to the development of Armenian culture. Although he lived in foreign lands far from Armenia, he has always been connected to us and to our nation with his heart and soul. He is well aware of every occurrence in the Republic and goes deeply through them sharing his thoughts and emotions with us,'' Hravard Hakobyan put in.
Zaven Yekavyan expressed his acknowledgements for the award and turned to the Academic Council members with the following words, «Dear Armenian intellectuals, to some extent I return what you once gave to me. Thanks God, I have always been and will be true to my roots, nationality and religion. My dream is for each and every Armenian, who experienced the wormwood and survived the Genocide, to get back to their homes one day.»
Let us remind that Zaven Yekavyan was born in Egypt. He studied at the Paris and Yerevan State Universities and received the highest professional education in the field of Social Sciences and Armenology. Since 1985 he has been in charge of the Armenian Communities Department of the «Galoust Gyulbenkyan» Foundation. Besides, he is a professor of Applied Linguistics at the Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle University. Additionally, Zaven Yekavyan is the Director of the «Mary Noubar» Agency in the international university district in Paris. As a linguist and specialist of Eastern languages Zaven Yekavyan published a number of books and articles on bilingual and semantic problems.
Moreover, he is a member of the Supreme Court of Education of Armenian Diaspora. He is also an Honorary Doctor at the Yerevan State University and the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, as well as the member of Social Science Academy in Russia,
Zaven Yekavyan received a great number of awards and medals such as the «Legion of Honour» medal (France), «Movses Khorenatsi» and «Mesrop Mashtots» medals (Armenia), «St. Silvester» medal (Vatican), «Prince of Kylikia» medal (Antalya, Lebanon).
In 2009 he received the highest award of the Armenian Teqeyan Cultural Union- «Brilliant Ararat» medal.
