Edward Melkonian

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

DR. EDWARD MELKONIAN AUTHORS "THE HISTORY OF AGBU"

At the behest of AGBU Honorary Life President Alex Manoogian in the early 1990's, Edward Levoni Melkonian accepted the task of recording the history of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the world's largest non-profit Armenian organization. On the threshold of AGBU's centennial, Dr. Melkonian, Senior Researcher, Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, has released "The History of AGBU" written in Armenian (Moughni Publishing House, April 2005, Yerevan, Armenia).

With "The History of AGBU" serving as the basis for Dr. Melkonian's doctoral thesis, he successfully defended his dissertation this November by unanimous vote earning him a Phd in History. Prominent author of four books and 31 scientific articles, Dr. Melkonian is also a professor at Yerevan State University and Slavonic University; a Board Member of the Caucasus Media Institute, and former Deputy Minister of Republic of Armenia Foreign Affairs.

"The History of AGBU" provides a comprehensive account of AGBU from the organization's establishment by Boghos Nubar in Cairo, Egypt in 1906, to present times. Dr. Melkonian also describes in detail the activities of AGBU in Soviet Armenia from 1923-1937, and the humanitarian assistance provided to the victims of the 1988 earthquake and to independent Armenia since 1991.

"The author [Melkonian] correctly considers the presence of AGBU in all stages of the survival and development of the diaspora as a permanent factor - natural, important and frequently decisive," indicates Karlen Dallakyan, Professor of History, Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, in his book review. "For the first time in scientific literature, Dr. Melkonian has demonstrated the significant influence AGBU's work has had on the preservation of the Armenian national identity."