2002_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2002

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HYE SHARZHOOM
Armenian Action
24"
Year
■
December 2002
Vol. 24, No. 2 (80)
Supplement to The Collegian
Dr. Kouymjian Completes
Album of Arm. Paleography
Chris Tozlian
Staff Writer
An important contribution to
Armenian studies, the Album of
Armenian Paleography, was published by Aarhus University Press
of Denmark in November 2002.
The authors of this reference work,
Professors Michael Stone, Henning
Lehmann, and Dickran Kouymjian,
spent twelve years on the production of the Album.
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Haig
& Isabel Berberian Professor of
Armenian Studies and the Director
of the Armenian Studies Program
at Fresno State, discussed, in an
earlier Hye Sharzhoom interview,
the meticulous work involved in
completing the Album. During the
last five years that the Album has
been in press, it has undergone in-
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
tensive editing, bibliographies required careful checking, and Armenian-to-English translations
were checked for accuracy.
As the title indicates, the Album of Armenian Paleography focuses on how Armenian letters have
changed form throughout a millennium, referencing two hundred accurately dated manuscripts, most
of which came from the
Matenadaran in Erevan, the Armenian Patriarchal Library in Jerusalem, and the Library of the
Mekhitarist Fathers in San Lazzaro,
Venice. The manuscripts were
samples from among the 31,000
Armenian manuscripts preserved
in collections throughout the world.
The album includes manuscript
samples dating from the ninth to
see Dr. Kouymjian page 7
Atom Egoyan s Ararat Opens in Fresno
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"Ararat" opened at Edwards Theatre on Wed., November 27.
Tamara Karakashian
Editor
For years Armenians around
the world have been anticipating
the production of a major motion
picture on the Armenian Genocide
Now they have it in full force.
Canadian film director/producer Atom Egoyan has created a
masterpiece, which opened at
Edwards Theatre in Fresno, on
Wednesday, November 27,2002.
Fresno Armenians gathered at
10AM on opening morning to
watch, for the first time in Fresno,
the movie "Ararat." With their
ticket stubs in hand, Armenians
ranging in age from young children
to elderly, some of whom were
genocide survivors, proudly entered
the theater for the premiere.
Along with the many local
Armenians, civic and community
leaders such as Fresno Mayor Alan
Autry, State Senator (R-14th)
Chuck Poochigian, Congressman-
elect (R-CA 21 st) DevinNunes and
State Assemblyman-elect (R-29th)
Steve Samuelian were present at
this showing. Representatives from
U.S. Senator's and the governors'
offices were also present
Initial plans for the distribution of "Ararat" called for openings in New York and Los Angeles
on November 15, with openings in
ten other U.S. markets on November 27. These plans did not include
a Fresno showing, but the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno
State led a grass-roots campaign to
persuade Miramax to open the film
in Fresno as well. E-mails and telephone calls flooded the local theater as well as Miramax headquarters.
"Ararat" represents the first
major motion picture to treat the
issue of the Armenian Genocide.
Director Egoyan made a film that
looks directly at the issue of the
Turkish government's persistent
denial of the Genocide and the effects of that denial on succeeding
generations of Armenians.
The Armenian Studies Program and the Armenian National
Committee ofFresno hosted a press
conference immediately following
the premiere. Professor Dickran
Kouymjian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program and Hygo
Ohannessian, from the ANC of
Fresno, welcomed Mayor Autry
and State Senator Chuck
Poochigian in a discussion of the
film's impact in Fresno and the
United States as a whole.
Prof. Kouymjian commented
on the movie stating that for Egoyan
to tell this story was an extraordinary challenge. He related the
"Ararat" to a film called "Shoah,"
made by the famous French filmmaker, Claude Lanzmann, who felt
that it would be difficult to make a
film on the Holocaust. He attempted
to do so by portraying the day to
SEE  A RARAT     PAGE 8
Greek Ambassador Presents New Book
Tamara Karakashian
Editor
On Wednesday, November 20,
2002, the Armenian Studies Program and the Armenian Students
Organization were honored to have
His Excellency Leonidas T.
Chrysanthopoulos, Ambassador of
Greece to Canada, speak as part of
the ASP Fall Lecture Series.
Ambassador
Chrysanthopoulos had been the
Greek Ambassador to Armenia in
1993-1994, and after his re-assignment to Ottawa, he started compiling his notes to write a book about
his experiences-the newly released
Caucasus Chronicles: Nation
Building and Diplomacy, 1993-
1994, published by the Gomidas
Institute.
The Ambassador has a lengthy
family legacy in the Greek Foreign
Ministry. Both his father and his
grandfather were Ambassadors.
Being the son of a diplomat he was
used to living in various places
throughout the world. Although he
has been thoroughly impressed with
the cultures of the countries he has
lived in, he says that he has not
been entirely influenced by them.
Living in Armenia was challenging for the Ambassador. Since
there was power for less than an
hour a day the Ambassador believes that he had more time to
think. The Ambassador feels that
many people throughout the world
especially here in the United States
should devote more time to simply
thinking.
While the Ambassador was in
Armenia the war in Karabagh was
raging and he did not visit Karabagh
because ofhis position. He asked if
he could go incognito, however the
authorities said it was not a good
idea.
One experience that saddened
the Ambassador was the fact that
some of the Armenian people had
to resort to selling their family heirlooms to simply afford to eat. He
Amb. Chrysanthopoulos
observed that people did not bargain on prices because one felt sad
for the situation. The diplomats
were also affected by the harsh
conditions in Armenia such as lack
of power and water supply and he
recounted how it took him up to
two hours in themorning for simple
seeAmbassador page 8