Day: October 19, 2023
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Obituary: Zvart Vartanian
Zvart VartanianZVART VARTANIAN
1941 – 2023
Zvart Vartanian, beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, devoted philanthropist, and honorable educator, peacefully passed away on October 5, 2023.
Zvart Vartanian-Simonian is the daughter of the well-known Vaspurakan Varagavank graduated teacher, and executive director of the migration committee, Kegham Vartanian and the spouse of the well-known international and Olympic referee in Bodybuilding and Weightlifting, Karekin Simonian.
Zvart was born in Mosul-Iraq in 1941, of an Armenian parent, Kegham and Araksi Vartainian, who had 10 children. She received her primary education at Basrah Armenian school, and her secondary and tertiary education at Basrah State schools. Then, she returned to the Armenian national school in Basrah to work as a teacher, in the early 1960’s, where she taught scientific subjects. She became a respected and an honorable educator, inspiring a generation of students, who always remembered her and still remember her with great respect, love, and gratitude.
In turn, she was proud of her students who achieved higher education and occupied excellent positions in their field of science.
Zvart was an active community member, involved with various humanitarian, social and educational organizations, in Iraq, Armenia and America, such as The Armenian Relief Society, “HOM”, and the Vaspurakan Society whom she continuously supported their charity in Los Angeles. She was also a member of the Red Cross and the Ladies Guild of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Iraq and Armenia, as well as the Vice President of the Ladies Guild of Saint Sarkis Church in Armenia for 5 years.
Zvart Vartanian married Karekin Simonian in Baghdad, on January 14, 1967. Karekin was also a member of the Vaspurakan Society, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and other various organizations. He was granted multiple Gold Medals during his long service in sports, including a Gold Medal for establishing the Bodybuilding & Weightlifting club in Armenia. Together they had three children (Dr. Margaret Simonian, Sarkis Simonian and Antranik Simonian) and two grandchildren (Leo and Henry Simonian). So devoted was she to her family, that she would lovingly do anything she could to support them. She was a role model for them and each pursued. Her loyalty and selflessness are manifest in the love she had for her grandchildren, and the love they have for her.
Mrs. Vartanian not only inherited her father’s profession, but she also inherited his patriotism, in turn, she passed it on to her children, securing the three of them, higher university education. Today, they are well-known professionals, appreciated by their peers and by the Armenian and foreign circles, each in their field of expertise. Her patriotism is further exemplified in her children. Sarkis Simonian has been the Chair of the Armenian National Committee of Burbank for 5 years now.
Mutual respect was the principle of the late Mrs. Vartanian. She has been respectful to everyone, including her students, teaching staff, parents, and the community, earning their respect in turn.
Although physically, Zvart is not with us today, she is in the memories and hearts of her children, relatives, and friends. And she will remain forever loved and unforgettable.
May God Enlighten her soul and make it worthy to enter the gates of heaven and give peace and comfort to her children and relatives.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday Oct 21 at 1 p.m. at St Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church, located at 500 S Central Ave., Glendale CA 91204. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, located at 1712 S Glendale Ave., Glendale, CA 91205.
A lunch reception will be held at Shiraz restaurant, located at 211 S Glendale Ave., Glendale CA 91205.
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Yerevan’s new Mayor Tigran Avinyan sparked strong opposition criticism on Thursday after it emerged that a lavish inauguration ceremony organized by him last week cost taxpayers over 87 million drams ($220,000).
Avinyan, who is allied to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was sworn in on October 13 almost one month after municipal elections in which the ruling Civil Contract party made what many observers see as a poor showing.
The party led by Pashinyan won 32.5 percent of the vote, falling well short of an absolute majority in the city council empowered to appoint the mayor. It managed to install Avinyan thanks to a power-sharing deal with a pro-establishment party and the effective backing of another group led by a controversial video blogger wanted by Armenian law-enforcement authorities.
Despite the obvious election setback, Avinyan’s inauguration, attended by Armenia’s top state officials but boycotted by opposition groups, was held with unprecedented pomp that raised eyebrows in the country.
The municipal administration revealed the cost of the ceremony in a written statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. It said half of the money was spent on decorations evoking the ancient kingdom of Urartu whose 8th century BC ruler Argishti I is considered the founder of Yerevan.
Avinyan was greeted by men dressed as Urartian warriors as he made his way into the inauguration hall. The 34-year-old put his hand on a replica of a cuneiform inscription left by Argishti as he took the oath of office.
Avinyan defended the unusual event staging when he spoke to reporters afterwards. He said it was meant to remind Armenians of “the origins of Yerevan.”
But his political opponents saw extravagance, waste of public money and poor taste. Izabella Abgaryan, a newly reelected city council member representing former Mayor Hayk Marutian’s party, the election runner-up, said Avinyan exposed his “sick vanity.”
“In my view, this was a real disgrace given the current state of our country,” Abgaryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Now that we are receiving refugees from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) I see a serious problem with morality in such a pompous and costly ceremony.”
Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan said Thursday that signs of torture and mutilation were observed on the remains of Artsakh Armenians killed during Azerbaijan’s large-scale attack there in September.
She said that her preliminary report on the ill-treatment and torture was used by attorneys representing Armenia during last week’s hearing at the International Court of Justice.
The report found torture and mutilations on numerous bodies that were evacuated from Artsakh to Armenia, including bodies of civilians, including women and children.
Speaking about the former Artsakh officials who are now jailed in Azerbaijan, the Human Rights Defender said that the rights of the Artsakh Armenians are being restricted with explicit violations of international legal standards.
“First of all the presumption of innocence of these persons is violated on all levels in Azerbaijan, because they are branded as criminals from the very beginning, both on the state level and by specific individuals,” Manasyan said, adding that it is impossible to guarantee due process in Azerbaijan given the state-sanctioned Armenophobia there.
On Wednesday, Manasyan and the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatović to visited the Kotayk province and met with displaced Artsakh resident temporarily being housed there.
Around 105 forcibly displaced persons, including 40 children, are currently living Tsaghkadzor’s winter retreat.
”Private interviews were held with forcibly displaced persons. They presented the deprivations they suffered and the problems caused by the forced displacement to the Defender and the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe,” Armenia’s Human Rights Defender’s office said in a statement.
“Special attention was paid to issues related to ensuring the rights of children and persons with disabilities,” the statement said.
Manasyan also visited the temporary accommodation of displaced persons located in the University hotel of Yerevan State University located in Tsaghkadzor, where 167 forcibly displaced persons, including 44 children, are currently staying.
During the meeting their conditions, needs assessment, medical aid and service, food, as well as personal hygiene items provision processes were examined.
As a result of the visit, the problems recorded by rights defender will be summarized and the proposals aimed at solving them will be presented to the competent authorities together with the appropriate analysis.