Nshan Ara Garabed Topouzian (

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly base ...

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 ...

) or Nshan Ara Karapet Topuzian (traditional Eastern Armenian , in reformed orthography (April 2, 1966, Shtaura, Beqaa Valley,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

- April 27, 2010,

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 ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

) was an Armenian Apostolic clergyman. From August 2002 to April 2010 he was

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the Armenian Diocese of Atrpatakan in

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

(

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

), under the jurisdiction of the

Holy See of Cilicia The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia ( hy, Կաթողիկոսութիւն Հայոց Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ) is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilici ...

Biography

He was born Ara Topouzian in the village of Shtaura in the Beqaa Valley of

on April 2, 1966. He went to the Armenian primary school of

Zahlé Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area ...

, and at the age of 12 he entered the Theological Seminary of the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias. After completing the 5-year Jarankavorats (high school) program, he became a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1984. After finishing the Undzayaran (college) program, he was ordained a

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

priest and given the name Nshan by Catholicos

Karekin I Karekin I ( Armenian: ) (August 27, 1932 – June 29, 1999) served as the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1994 and 1999. Previously, he served as the Catholicos of Cilicia from 1983 to 1994 as Karekin II ( Armenian: ). ...

Sarkissian in 1987. In February 1991 he was sent as a visiting priest to the Diocese of Atrpatakan (

, Iran) and appointed Pontifical Legate by Karekin I in May 1991. He was elected

of the Diocese of Atrpatakan in August 2002 and received the rank of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

from Catholicos

Aram I Aram I ( hy, Արամ Ա. Քեշիշեան; born Bedros Keshishian 8 March 1947), has been the head of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia since 1995 and he resides in Antelias, Lebanon. Bibliography Aram I has written the followin ...

on June 4, 2006.In Memoriam: Nshan Topouzian, the bishop of Aderbadagan
Bishop Nshan Topouzian (1966-2010), Prelate of the Armenian Diocese of Aderbadagan (Iran). Orthodoxy Cognate Page, OCP Media Network, 29 April 2010. During his tenure as Prelate, the four Armenian churches of Tabriz –

Saint Mary Church St. Mary's Church, St. Mary the Virgin's Church, St. Mary Church, Saint Mary Church, or other variations on the name, is a commonly used name for specific churches of various Christian denominations. Notable uses of the term may refer to: Albania ...

(Surp Mariam), Saint Sarkis Church (Surp Sarkis), Saint Mary Church of Maralan (Maryam Nanna or Na-Na) and

Shoghakat Church The Church of Shoghakat ( hy, Շողակաթ եկեղեցի; meaning "drop of light" because of the ray of light that came down from heaven upon Hripsime's martyrs) was erected in 1694 by Prince Aghamal Sorotetsi during the reign of Catholicos N ...

– and the Prelacy were renovated and a new church was built in

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an al ...

. The Ararat Cultural Complex of Tabriz was built at Valman Street (opposite to the Presbyterian Church of Tabriz) close to South Shariati Street and

Baron Avak Baron Avak ( az, Barnava, fa, بارون آواک, hy, Պարոն Աւագ) is an old neighbourhood in the city center of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. The inhabitants of Baron Avak are mostly among the Iranian Armenian Iranian-Armenians ...

neighborhood with the Armenian

Saint Sarkis Church of Tabriz Saint Sarkis Church ( hy, Սուրբ Սարգիս Եկեղեցի, translit=Surp Sarkis Yekeghetsi) is an Armenian Apostolic church in Baron Avak neighborhood of Tabriz, Iran. St. Sarkis was built with funding from the Petrossian family. Built i ...

. Thanks to the efforts of Bishop Nshan Topouzian and other Armenian priests, in cooperation with the Iranian government, three ancient church complexes of the Armenian Diocese of Atrpatakan were added to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

on July 8, 2008, under the name Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran: the Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, the Monastery of Saint Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor. He visited the

Arax river , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

several times near Jolfa, where he observed the destruction of the ancient

Armenian cemetery in Julfa The Armenian cemetery in Julfa ( hy, Ջուղայի գերեզմանատուն, ''Jughayi gerezmanatun'') was a cemetery near the town of Julfa (known as Jugha in Armenian), in the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan that originally housed around ...

in the Republic of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

on the opposite bank of the river by Azerbaijani soldiers between 1997 and 2006. Together with other Armenian clergymen and Iranian experts of architecture, he photographed and filmed the soldiers when they were destroying the khachkars and gravestones. He wrote several articles for the

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

newspaper

Alik Alik may refer to: People Given name *Alik Arakelyan (born 1996), Armenian footballer *Alik Cavaliere (1926–1998), Italian sculptor *Alik Gershon (born 1980), Ukraine-born Israeli chess grandmaster *Alik Gunashian or Gyunashyan (born 1955), Armen ...

, where his photographs were shown to a broader public.

Languages

Besides his native

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Bishop Nshan was also fluent in Eastern Armenian,

and Azerbaijani.

Death and funeral

In 2010 he fell sick with hepatocellular carcinoma and was admitted to treatment in the

Nork-Marash Medical Center The Nork-Marash Medical Center is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in Yerevan, Armenia, focused on cardiac care. It is led by Dr. Hrayr (Hagop) Hovagimian, a Syria, Syrian-Armenians, Armenian cardiothoracic surgery, cardiothora ...

at the beginning of April 2010, but passed away on 27 April 2010, at the age of 44. On May 2, 2010, the

Extreme Unction In the Catholic Church, the anointing of the sick, also known as Extreme Unction, is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to a Catholic "who, having reached the age of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age", except in t ...

service was held at Surp Hakob Church in

Kanaker Kanaker ( hy, Քանաքեռ; also Romanized as K’anak’err, Kenaker, Kanaker, and Qanaqer) was a town in Armenia to the north-east of the capital Yerevan. With the urban development, the village was gradually absorbed by the capital Yerevan t ...

(

) by Bishop Ararat Kaltakjian of

Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

, Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan of Tehran and Bishop Papken Tcharian of Isfahan. He was buried at the Armenian cemetery next to

Shoghakat Church of Tabriz The Shoghakat Church or Shoghagat Church ( Armenian: , ''T’avrizhi Surb Shoghakat yekeghets’i'', Persian: ) is an Armenian Apostolic church in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran completed in 1940. Location Saint Shoghakat Church is l ...

on 5 May 2010.تشییع اسقف نشان توپوزیان – خبرگزاری مهر: مراسم تشییع اسقف نشان توپوزیان خلیفه کل ارامنه آذزبایجان روز چهارشنبه در گورستان ارامنه تبریز برگزار شد.
TABNAK, 6 May 2010.

References

External links

In Memoriam: Nshan Topouzian, the bishop of Aderbadagan
Bishop Nshan Topouzian (1966-2010), Prelate of the Armenian Diocese of Aderbadagan (Iran). Orthodoxy Cognate Page, OCP Media Network, 29 April 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Topouzian, Nshan Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church 1966 births 2010 deaths Lebanese people of Armenian descent 20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops 21st-century Oriental Orthodox bishops Armenian Apostolic Church in Iran Burials in Iran Iranian people of Armenian descent