Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, also known as Souren Melikian (born 5 December 1936), is a French-Iranian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, and curator. He is a renowned scholar of Iranian culture, and its sphere of influence.

Background

He was born on 5 December 1936, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to an Armenian father, Kevork Melikian (Georgiy Melikov), and Azerbaijani mother, Kawsar Asadullayeva. His father was accused of taking part in

March Days The March Days or March Events () was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat. Facilita ...

, but he was not found guilty after it was found out that he was defending his Muslim friend. Melikian's paternal grandfather Ambartsum Melikov was an oil billionaire who owned A.S.Melikov and Co in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. His maternal-grandfather was Mirza Asadullayev and thus was a nephew to Banine. He grew up with his mother after losing father in 1945.

Education and career

After completing high school in Lycee Condorcet, Melikian graduated from the Sorbonne and the

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (; ), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europ ...

(INALCO). He has served as (since 2005) as Chair of Middle Eastern History at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

(CNRS). He was named emeritus research director in 2007. He wrote weekly columns on

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and

art market The art market is the marketplace of buyers and sellers trading commodities, services, and works of art. The art market follows an economic model that considers more than supply and demand; it is a market where art is bought and sold for values ...

s for the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

'' since 1969. Between 2011 and 2013 he wrote for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He has served as Senior Collections Adviser for the

Aga Khan Museum The Aga Khan Museum is a museum of Islamic art located at 77 Wynford Drive in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is dedicated to Islamic art and objects, and it houses approximately 1,200 rare objects assembled by Sh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melikian, Souren 1936 births Iranian art critics French art critics French curators Living people Iranian art historians