Vahan M. Kurkjian ( hy, Վահան Մ. Քուրքջյան; 1863–1961) was an

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 ...

author, historian, teacher, and community leader. In 1904, in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, he published the Armenian newspaper ''Loussaper'' (''The Morning Star''), in the pages of which he and other intellectuals called for a national union for the Armenian people. The idea eventually materialized in the form of the

Armenian General Benevolent Union The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...

. In 1907 he emigrated to the United States and studied law at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Two years later, also in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he founded the first American chapter of the Armenian General Benevolent Union. From its inception he was inseparably identified with that organization, serving as its executive director until his retirement in 1939. Kurkjian was a frequent contributor of articles to Armenian newspapers, and published a number of books and pamphlets, among which the best-remembered is his ''History of Armenia''.

Editions

*''A History of Armenia'' **Armenian General Benevolent Union of America, 1964 **Indo-European Publishing, 2008,

External links

''History of Armenia'' by Vahan M. Kurkjian
People from Aleppo Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States Ethnic Armenian historians American writers of Armenian descent Boston University School of Law alumni 1863 births 1961 deaths 19th-century Armenian historians 19th-century journalists from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century historians from the Ottoman Empire {{Armenia-historian-stub