Samvel Karapetian (; 30 July 1961 – 27 February 2020) 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 around the ...

historian, researcher, author, and expert of medieval architecture, specializing in the study of the historical monuments of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

and other regions of the

Southern Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

Research work

Karapetian surveyed and catalogued thousands of artifacts of Armenian history and architecture during the course of more than two decades. Karapetyan was head of the

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

branch of the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Research on Armenian Architecture Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) () is a non-governmental organization established in Aachen, Germany, in 1969 by Dr. Armen Hakhnazarian and was registered as a non-profit public organization in 1982. In 1996, RAA USA was founded, followe ...

(RAA). Karapetyan was also known as an outspoken critic of the treatment of Armenian monuments in Turkey: he argued that Turkey has a policy of intentional neglect and planned destruction. He also presented evidence that accuses

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

of deliberately destroying Armenian historical monuments. He presented his findings to

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2007 and to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

in 2008. Karapetyan was also an outspoken critic of the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

and an advocate of the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

in Armenia. In 2007 Karapetian received the Armenian Presidential Humanitarian Sciences Prize for his works, and in 2020 he was posthumously awarded by Movses Khorenatsi medal by the President of Armenia.Decrees of the President of RA, 21 September 2020
/ref> At the same time Karapetian's views received some criticism. In his 2003 book '' Black Garden'' British journalist

Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Li ...

disagreed with Karapetian's claims about the town of Kalbajar in Azerbaijan: "In what sense can Kelbajar be called 'Armenian', when no Armenian had lived there for almost a hundred years? I said that I could not accept that Kelbajar was 'liberated' territory, when all of its fifty thousand or so Azerbaijani or Kurdish inhabitants had been expelled". According to de Waal, for Karapetian "the past eclipsed the present: those were 'Turks' and interlopers".

Published works

* ''Բուն Աղվանքի հայերեն վիմագրերը'' (''Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions in Caucasian Albania Proper''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 1997. * ''Վրաց Պետական Քաղաքականությունը և հայ մշակույթի հուշարձանները, 1988–1998'' (''Georgian State Policy and Historical Armenian Monuments, 1988–1998''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 1998. *''Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh''. Trans. Anahit Martirossian. Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 2001. * ''Ջավախքի Պատմական Հուշարձանները'' (''The Historical Monuments of

Javakheti Javakheti ( ka, ჯავახეთი ) or Javakhk (, ''Javakhk'')' is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Aspindza (partly), Ninotsminda, and partly to the Turkey's Ardahan ...

''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 2001. *''Կովկասյան թանգարանի Հայկական հավաքածուն'' (''The Armenian Collection of the Caucasian Museum''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 2004. * ''Հյուսիսային Արցախ'' (''Northern Artsakh''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 2004. * ''Հայերը Կախեթում'' (''The Armenians of

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

''). Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing, 2004.

References

External links

RAA Official site

Samvel Karapetyan
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Karapetyan, Samvel 1961 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Armenian historians 21st-century Armenian historians Armenian architectural historians Armenian scientists