Vardan Petrosyan (born February 27, 1959; hy, Վարդան Պետրոսյան) is 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 ...

actor, scriptwriter, and parodist. He is based in Paris and Yerevan and holds a dual Armenian and French citizenship. Petrosyan is widely considered one of the greatest contemporary Armenian actors, touching various issues such as the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, Armenian politics and foreign affairs in his performances.

Biography

Vardan Petrosyan was born on February 27, 1959 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 ...

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

. He graduated from the Terlemezian Art College in 1983. His father died in 1981, when he was 22 years old. After a two-year service in the Soviet Army, he returned to Yerevan in 1985 to establish—with Vahram Sahakian—the private theatre studio called ''Vozniner'' (Ոզնիներ, "Hedgehogs"). Between 1988 and 1992, when the

Karabakh movement The Karabakh movement ( hy, Ղարաբաղյան շարժում, also the Artsakh movement Արցախյան շարժում) was a national mass movement in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1991 that advocated for the transfer of the ma ...

was in progress, Petrosyan wrote and staged several politically motivated performances. Until 1997, he played in short and feature films. Due to the harsh economic conditions in Armenia, Petrosyan moved to Paris in 1992. He appeared in several French plays. Beginning in 2000, Vardan Petrosyan has been mainly performing one-man shows on various politics and social issues. Besides Armenia, he has also performed for the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

communities in the United States, France, Canada, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Russia, etc.

2013 car accident

On October 20, 2013 Vardan Petrosyan got into a car accident on

Yeghvard Yeghvard ( hy, Եղվարդ) is a town and urban municipal community in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is located 39 kilometres southwest of the provincial centre Hrazdan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 11,672, almost ...

highway, where two sixteen-year-old boys died and four others were injured, including Petrosyan. After being treated in a Yerevan hospital, on November 9, Petrosyan was charged with "negligent breach of traffic rules, which causes death" and was taken into custody. The court rejected pleas to have him released on bail, despite a petition that eventually garnered 11,000 signatures. Petrosyan pleaded not guilty on January 26, 2015. He was sentenced to five years in prison on January 29, 2015 by a lower court in

Kotayk Province Kotayk ( hy, Կոտայք, ), is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. It is located at the central part of the country. Its capital is Hrazdan and the largest city is Abovyan. It is named after the Kotayk canton of the historic Ayrarat province ...

. Petrosyan was released on September 2, 2015 and will serve the rest of his punishment outside prison. Early released in March 2017.Վարդան Պետրոսյանն ազատ է արձակվել
(in Armenian)

Performances and filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrosyan, Vardan Armenian male film actors 1959 births Living people Male actors from Yerevan Armenian emigrants to France Armenian comedians Soviet male actors 20th-century Armenian male actors