Levon Arami Zourabian () (born March 9, 1964) is an Armenian politician and vice-chairman of the

Armenian National Congress The Armenian National Congress () is an Armenian political party led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and was formed in 2008. Its direct predecessor was the Pan-Armenian National Movement. It is often abbreviated as ՀԱԿ or HAK, in k ...

political party. He was a member of parliament and the head of the Armenian National Congress's parliamentary faction from 2012 to 2017.

Early life and career

Levon Zourabyan was born in

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 ...

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 ...

to a family of prominent intellectuals. He is the son of professor Aram Zourabian and screenwriter Agnesa Sevunts, and the grandson of writer Garegin Sevunts and poet Shoghik Safyan. In 1985 he graduated from the

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

department of

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...

. In 19891991 he worked at

Yerevan Physics Institute The A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory () is a research institute located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1943 as a branch of the Yerevan State University by brothers Abram Alikhanov and Artem Alikhanian. It was often referred to by ...

as a researcher. He conducted research and published articles on

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct phy ...

, supersymmetry and supergravitation, and superstring field theory. He became actively involved in the

Karabakh movement The Karabakh movement (), also known as the Artsakh movement (), was a national mass movement in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1991 that advocated for the transfer of the mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast ...

in 1988. In 1991 he was appointed an aide to the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, and in 1994 he was appointed the head of the president’s press office. Zourabian resigned in 1998 following the resignation of Ter-Petrossian. In 1998 Zourabian was awarded an Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship which allowed him to enroll at the School of International and Public Affairs at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He graduated from Columbia with a master's degree in

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. After his return to Armenia he worked as Team Leader for IBM Business Consulting/

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

’ Armenia office in 20012004. From 2005 to 2007 he worked as an analyst in the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

. In that capacity he contributed to reports on the conflicts in

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

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

, as well as the report on the conditions of Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in

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 ...

Armenian National Congress

Following the return of Levon Ter-Petrossian to active politics in 2007, Zourabian resigned from the

and continued his career as a public figure supporting Ter-Petrossian’s candidacy during the presidential elections of 2008. After the formation of the

in 2008 he became Coordinator of its Central Office. During the

2012 Armenian parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

, Zourabian was elected to the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...

as a majoritarian candidate for the 9th electoral district. He led the Armenian National Congress's faction in parliament.

Personal life

Levon Zourabian is married to Shogher Matevosyan, who is the editor in chief of ''Chorrord Ishkhanutyun'' weekly and the daughter of writer Hrant Matevosyan. They have two children.

References

External links

Levon Zurabyan: "Every nation which respects itself must struggle for democracy"Crisis in Armenia: Questions for Levon Zurabian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zourabian, Levon Politicians from Yerevan 1964 births School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Yerevan State University alumni Living people