Alen Roberti Simonyan ( hy, Ալեն Ռոբերտի Սիմոնյան; born 5 January 1980) is an Armenian politician currently serving as the president of the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...

since 2 August 2021. He served as the acting

president of Armenia The president of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Նախագահ, Hayastani Nakhagah) is the head of state and the guarantor of independence and territorial integrity of Armenia elected to a single seven-year term by the National Assembly of Arme ...

from 1 February 2022 to 13 March 2022, and is a former member of

Yerevan City Council The Yerevan City Council () is the lawmaking body of the city of Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. It has 65 members elected by Party-list proportional representation system, headed by the Mayor of Yerevan. The Council serves as a ...

Career

Simonyan studied at the Faculty of Law of

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 ...

, graduating in 2000. He would go on to serve two years in the

Armed Forces of Armenia The Armed Forces of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի զինված ուժեր, Hayastani zinvats uzher), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army ( hy, Հայկական Բանակ, Haykakan Banak), is the national military of Armenia. It consist ...

, before becoming Assistant to the Chairman of the Court of the First Instance of

Ajapnyak Ajapnyak ( hy, Աջափնյակ վարչական շրջան, translit=Ajapnyak varčakan šrĵan), is one of the 12 districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Located to the northwest of the city centre, Ajapnyak has common borders with the d ...

and Davitashen Communities. From 2003 to 2004, he worked as a human resources manager at Converse Bank. From 2006 to 2007, Simonyan worked at a radio station. He then cooperated with television companies TV5, Yerkir Media, and

Armenia TV Armenia TV ( hy, Արմենիա հեռուստաընկերություն, Armenia herustaënkerut'yun), is one of the leading TV channels in Armenia. In 2012, Armenia TV became the first TV channel in Armenia to launch 1080p, Full HD broadcasti ...

for the next five years, directing and producing a number of musical and political video clips. In 2012, he became Editor-in-Chief of "Ararat" magazine before founding Ararat Media Group LLC (araratnews.am web site and "Ararat" magazine). Simonyan was one of a number of organizers of the "Car free" civil protest against the rise in prices for transportation. On 30 May 2015, he was elected member of the Civil Contract party board, becoming a spokesperson for the party. He was re-elected on 30 October 2016. From 2017 to 2018, Simonyan was a member of the

in the composition of

Way Out Alliance The Way Out Alliance ( hy, «Ելք» դաշինք, ԵԼՔ; ''YELK Dashink, YELQ'') or Yelk Alliance or simply Yelk or Way Out was a liberal political alliance of three political parties in Armenia: Civil Contract, Bright Armenia and the Hanrap ...

. On 16 May 2018, he was elected Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

by the national electoral list of the

. Later that year, on 9 December 2018, he was elected member of the

by the national electoral list of the

My Step Alliance The My Step Alliance ( hy, Իմ Քայլը դաշինք, Im Kaylə Dashink', IKD) was a political alliance in Armenia formed by the Civil Contract party, the Mission Party and various independent representatives of civil society. It was formed i ...

. On 15 January 2019, he was elected vice president of the

, then president of the National Assembly on 2 August 2021. After the resignation of President

Armen Sarkissian Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 A ...

on 1 February 2022, Simonyan assumed the powers and duties of president of Armenia as acting president.

Personal life

Simonyan is married to Mariam Margaryan and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonyan, Alen 1980 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Armenia) Politicians from Yerevan Presidents of Armenia Presidents of the National Assembly (Armenia) Civil Contract (Armenia) politicians 21st-century Armenian politicians