Georgi Vanyan
Georgi Vanyan 
| |
|---|---|
| Birthplace | Karachinar |
| Birth date | 9 May 1963 |
| Lived in | Karachinar, Tbilisi, Abovyan |
| Resides in | Tbilisi |
| Death place | Tbilisi |
| Death date | 2021/10/15 |
| Death year | 2021 |
| Languages | Armenian, Georgian, Russian, English |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Eastern Armenian, Karabakh Armenian |
| Ancestral villages | Karachinar |
Georgi Vanyan (born 9 May 1963 - 15 October 2021) was an Armenian peace activist and chairman of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives.
Biography
Georgi Vanyan was born on 9 May 1963, in the village of Qaraçinar, Shaumyan district of the Azerbaijan SSR. He studied at the secondary school N7 of the city of Abovyan. From 1981 to 1983 he served in Soviet army. In 1983 - 1985 he worked at "Sirius" factory, ”Abovyanshin” as a laborer. In 1986 - 1991 he studied at Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography, faculty of film directing, major at drama theater directing, theater and cinema acting.
In 1984 - 1994 Vanyan worked as an actor at Yerevan State Pantomime Theater, Theater - Studio "Yerevan", and Film Studio "Armenfilm", Theater "Hamazgain".
In 1992 - 1994 he became the founder and artistic director of theater "AR - Yerevani Tatron".
In 1989 - 1992 worked at educational complex "Mkhitar Sebastatsi" as a teacher, methodologist, head of aesthetics course, member of the board of directors.
In 1993 - 1997 he founded and became editor-in-chief of literary and artistic journal "Arar", and in 1995 - 1997 he was a director of Theater-Publishing Complex "Arar" under the Ministry of Culture of Armenia.
In 1995 Vanyan ran for elections to the National Assembly of Armenia.
In 1997 - 2005 he worked as a director of secondary school No. 61 in Yerevan. From 1989 to 2004 he dealt with the problems of street children and child prostitution, problems of adaptation of refugee children and children with disabilities.
On February 3, 1998, he became a member of the Nor Ughi (New Way) party, and in 1999 became a member of the Party Council, deputy chairman. In the 1998 presidential elections, he was the chief of the campaign headquarters of Ashot Bleyan.
In 1999 - 2001 he founded and became the chairman of the Public Council for the defense of Political Prisoner Ashot Bleyan.
In 2000 he was a candidate for deputy in the by-elections of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, called after the terrorist act in the parliament. The day before the election, he withdrew his candidacy and called for a boycott.
In 2001, after the release of A. Bleyan, he left the party. In 2002 he ceased political activity.
Since 2002, he is a member of the Board of Founders, Chairman of the Caucasus Center for Peacemaking Initiatives.[1]
Political activism
Vanyan has often been branded a traitor by nationalists, and his initiatives led to protests.
In 2007, he organized Days of Azerbaijan at a public school in Yerevan. The event was briefly disrupted by a small group of nationalist bloggers opposed to any concessions to Azerbaijan.[2]
In 2011, Vanyan opened a peace center in Tekalo, a small village in Georgia a few kilometers from the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The project was supported by a small group of other civil society activists, cultural figures and journalists in Azerbaijan and Georgia.[3]
In April 2012 Vanyan tried to organize a festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia's second-largest city, Gyumri, which had to be canceled after dozens of protesters blocked the festival venue. The event was organized by Vanyan's Caucasus Center for Peace-Making Initiatives and had the support of the U.S. and British embassies in Yerevan.[4]
On 8 November 2020, during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war he was fined by Armenian police for a Facebook post calling for dialogue with Azerbaijan. In the offending post, Vanyan wrote that Armenia "had long crossed the threshold of crimes against its own citizens". He called to "stop this criminal farce that speaks of victory: one does not have victory over a neighbour, one does not trample a neighbour, one does not destroy a neighbour. One talks with a neighbour and keeps talking until they find the ability to speak the same language, until reaching mutual understanding."[5]
In February 2021, together with Emin Milli from Azerbaijan, Vanyan called for civil society-led reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.[6]
References
- ↑ "Георгий Ванян" (in ru). http://southcaucasus.com/retro/georgij-vanyan.html. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ↑ "Georgi Vanyan: Every family has the desire for peace" (in en). https://www.frontlineclub.com/giorgi_vanyan_everyone_wants_peace/. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ↑ "As tensions mount, plans for an Armenian-Azerbaijan Peace Building Center in Georgia" (in en). Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Armenia/As-tensions-mount-plans-for-an-Armenian-Azerbaijan-Peace-Building-Center-in-Georgia-89479. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
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- SOURCE of this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Vanyan