Ara Papian ( hy, Արա Պապյան; born June 6, 1961) is an Armenian lawyer,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and diplomat. He served as Armenia's Ambassador to Canada from 2000 to 2006. He is currently the president of the "Modus Vivendi" Center for Social Science.

Early years and education

Papian was born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

, Armenian SSR, then

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

on June 6, 1961. In the 1980s, he served in the Soviet Army in Afghanistan as a military translator. He was decorated seven times with military awards. Papian first graduated from the

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in history. In 1989, he completed postgraduate degree studies in Armenian History at Yerevan State University. Papian graduated from the

Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is among the oldest diplomatic institutes in the world, which trains specialists in the field of international relations, international economic relations and int ...

in 1994 and from the

NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the f ...

in Rome in 1999. He also completed a course of study in Public Diplomacy (1999, Oxford). Papian also lectured on Armenian language and literature at the Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus and taught Armenian and Iranian history at Yerevan State University from 1987 to 1989 and from 1998 to 2000.

Diplomat career

Papian worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia for many years, holding different positions. He worked as secretary and head of numerous departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also worked in Tehran, Iran and Bucharest, Romania as secretary. Later he was appointed the spokesman and Head of Public Affairs Department. From 2000 to 2006 he was the Armenia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada.

Later activities and vies

After his retirement from his diplomatic career, Papian studied legal aspects of the Armenian Question, the First Nagorno-Karabakh War,

Wilsonian Armenia Wilsonian Armenia () refers to the unimplemented boundary configuration of the First Republic of Armenia in the Treaty of Sèvres, as drawn by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Department of State. The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty that h ...

, etc. He has given speeches in many Armenian communities throughout the world (including Los Angeles) on these issues. Ara Papian is an advocate of minority rights and has stated in his interviews that Armenia should assist nation-less ethnic groups, such as the

Talysh Talysh may refer to: *Talysh people * History of Talysh *Talysh language *Talysh Khanate, in existence from 1747 to 1828 *Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993 *Talysh ...

and Lezgin people, to secede from Azerbaijan. Ara Papian is founder and Head of the Modus Vivendi Center. Ara Papian is a member of the

National Democratic Pole The National Democratic Pole ( hy, Ազգային ժողովրդավարական բեւեռ, translit=Azgayin zhoghovrdavarakan beverr) also known as the National Democratic Alliance or the National Democratic Party, is an Armenian political alli ...

Personal life

Papian is fluent in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. He is married, with two sons: Narek and Taron.

Publications

* Ara Papian, ''Legal Bases for the Armenian Claims'' (Collection of Articles), 2008, Toronto. *''Arbitral Award of the President of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson: Full Report of the Committee upon the Arbitration of the Boundary between Turkey and Armenia, Washington, November 22, 1920'', (Prepared with an Introduction and Indexes by Ara Papian), 2011, Yerevan. * Ara Papian, ''HAYRENATIRUTYUN (Reclaiming the Homeland): Legal Bases for the Armenian claims and Related Issues'' (Collection of Articles), 2012, Yerevan.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papian, Ara 1961 births Living people Diplomats from Yerevan Jurists from Yerevan 21st-century Armenian historians Ambassadors of Armenia to Canada