Richard Gable Hovannisian (, November 9, 1932 – July 10, 2023) was an American historian and professor at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He is known mainly for his four-volume history of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...

, and for his advocacy of

Armenian Genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

recognition.

Biography

Background

Hovannisian was born and raised in

Tulare, California Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 68,875 per the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, south of Visalia and north of Bakersfield. The city is named after the Tul ...

, into a family of

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

survivors. His father, Kaspar Gavroian, was born in 1901 in the village of Bazmashen (Pazmashen; now Sarıçubuk, Elâzığ), near Kharpert in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Surviving the Genocide of 1915, he moved to the United States by 1920 and changed his last name from Gavroian to Hovannisian, after his father's name, Hovhannes. In 1927, Kaspar married Siroon (Sarah) Nalbandian, born in Kesserig, Kharpert. Their oldest sons were born in 1928 (John) and 1930 (Ralph). Richard G. Hovannisian was born on November 9, 1932. His younger brother, Vernon Hovannisian was born in 1947.

Education and career

Hovannisian received his B.A. in history (1954) from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and his M.A. in history (1958) and his Ph.D. (1966) from

(UCLA). He was also an associate professor of history at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, from 1966 to 1969, having joined UCLA in 1962. A Rankean by training, Hovannisian's scholarly work early on was focused on the history of the

(1918–20). His Ph.D. dissertation, originally envisioned to encompass its entire history, was published in 1967 as ''Armenia on the Road to Independence'' and would serve as a prologue to the four volumes (1971–1996) that he would eventually publish on the history of the republic. These volumes were generally well-received among scholarly circles. In 1986, Hovannisian was appointed the first holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA. Hovannisian was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

who has received numerous honors for his scholarship, civic activities, and advancement of Armenian Studies. His biographical entries are included in

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

and Who's Who in the World among other scholarly and literary reference works.. Hovannisian served on the board of directors of nine scholarly and civic organizations, including the Facing History and Ourselves Foundation; the International Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide;

International Alert International Alert is a global peacebuilding charity established in 1986. It aims to promote dialogue, training, research, policy analysis, advocacy, and outreach activities. The organization addresses the root causes of conflict by working wi ...

; the Foundation for Research on Armenian Architecture; and the Armenian National Institute (ANI). He received the UCLA Alumni Association's 2010–2011 "Most Inspiring Teacher" award. From 2000, Hovannisian oversaw and edited a number of individual studies on the former Armenian-populated towns and cities of the Ottoman Empire. In 2014, he became adjunct professor at USC "with the intention of advising on the Shoah Foundation’s integration of the Armenian Film Foundation’s collection of genocide survivor interviews." He then in 2018 donated his own interviews to USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive. The 1000 interviews are titled the Richard G. Hovannisian Armenian Genocide Oral History Collection, and is "the largest existing collection about the Armenian Genocide" according to the foundation. The interviews were first recorded in 1972, when he had students in California tape Armenian genocide survivors throughout the Southern part of the state, as well as other states and countries. In the 1990s and 2000s, as the survivors died, the interviews focused instead on the children of survivors, with the last class taking place in 2011. In February 2020, Hovannisian received the Armenian Genocide Education Legacy award at the 4th Annual Armenian Genocide Education Awards Luncheon put on by The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region’s Education Committee.

Personal life and death

Hovannisian married Vartiter Kotcholosian in 1957 at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Fresno. They had four children: Raffi, Armen, Ani, and Garo.

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

became the first Foreign Minister of Armenia and is currently an opposition politician. Hovannisian died in Los Angeles on July 10, 2023, at the age of 90.

Political views

In a 2006 interview Hovannisian criticized the Armenian government of then President Robert Kocharyan for its authoritarian nature and added that Armenia "must not become a

failed state A failed state is a state that has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Common characteristics of a failed state include a government incapable of ...

." Hovannisian partook in the protests following the 2013 presidential election in Armenia in which his son,

, came in second according to official results.

Selected works

* * * * * *''The Armenian Holocaust'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, Armenian Heritage Press (1980) *''The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times'', 2 vols. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997 (editor) *''Remembrance and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998 (editor)

UCLA conference series proceedings

As the Chair of Modern Armenian History at UCLA, Hovannisian organized the conference series titled "Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces" has been organized by Hovannisian. The conference proceedings, all edited by Hovannisian, that have been published (in Costa Mesa, CA, by Mazda Publishers) are: # ''Armenian Van/Vaspurakan'' (2000) # ''Armenian Baghesh/Bitlis and Taron/Mush'' (2001) # ''Armenian Tsopk/Kharpert'' (2002) # ''Armenian Karin/Erzerum'' (2003) # ''Armenian Sebastia/Sivas and Lesser Armenia'' (2004) # ''Armenian Tigranakert/Diarbekir and Edessa/Urfa'' (2006) # ''Armenian Cilicia'' (2008) (together with Simon Payaslian) # ''Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities'' (2009) # ''Armenian Constantinople'' (2010) (together with Simon Payaslian) # ''Armenian Kars and Ani '' (2011) # ''Armenian Smyrna/Izmir '' (2012) # ''Armenian Kesaria/Kayseri and Cappadocia'' (2013) # ''Armenian Communities of Asia Minor'' (2014) # Armenian Communities of Persia/Iran (2021)

Articles

* * * * *

References

Bibliography

* (the author is a grandson of Richard Hovannisian)

External links

Full bibliographyNational Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovannisian, Richard G. 1932 births 2023 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers American writers of Armenian descent Armenian studies scholars Ethnic Armenian historians Historians from California Historians of Armenia Historians of the Armenian genocide Mount St. Mary's University (Los Angeles) faculty Chapman University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni