Զաւէն Մ. Մսըրլեան
( n. 1938 )

Naissance le 3 avril 1938 à Beyrouth

Dr. Zaven Meguerditch Messerlian, was born in 1938, in Beirut. He has attended several Armenian schools, and has graduated in 1955 from the Armenian Evangelical College.
He received his B.A. in 1959 in European history and his M.A. in 1963 in Middle Eastern history, both from the American University of Beirut.

The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia granted him an honorary doctorate in Armenology on July 30, 2003.

In October 1960 Z. Messerlian joined the Armenian Evangelical College faculty and in July 1967 became the school’s principal, a position he holds since then. In 1986 the Central Committee of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East awarded him a gold medal for his 25 years service in education. The Board of Trustees of the Armenian Evangelical College honored him with a plaque of recognition at the 85th anniversary commemoration of the school at the Unesco Palace in 2008. On May 22, 2010 the President of Republic of Lebanon granted him the Medal of Education. On March 23, 2010 the President of the Republic of Lebanon granted him the Medal of Education. On March 23, 2011 the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, granted the Golden Medal of the Ministry.

He has been very active within the Armenian community of Lebanon in various student, teacher, youth, educational and cultural organizations, particularly from 1958 to 1983, such as President of the Union of Armenian University Students (1958-1961), President of the Tekeyan Cultural Association (1965), President, Alumni Association of the Armenian Evangelical College (1966-1967), Member of the Central Board of the Armenian Youth Association (1973-1982). He is the secretary of the Armenian Evangelical Educational Coordinating Committee, since 1991. He is the chairman of the Richard and Tina Carolan Publication Fund of the Catholicossate of Cilicia since 2004.

He has published 9 books,

Haygagan Hartsi Massin (concerning the Armenian Question), Beirut 1978, which received the “Haygashen Ouzounian Prize” in 1978
Yerek Tashnakirer (Three Treaties of Alexandrapole, Moscow, Kars 1920-21), Beirut 1979
Mgrditch Messerliani Azkayin Kaghakagan Kordzouneoutiune (The National Political activities of Mgrdich Messerlian), Beirut 1981
The Premeditated Nature of The Genocide Perpetrated on the Armenians Antelias, 2001, which received the “kevork Melidinetsi Literary Award” and was published by the Catholicossate of Cilicia
Amerigayi Ardakin Khaghagaganoutioune yev Haygagan Hartse 1900-2009 (The Foreign Policy of USA and the Armenian Question (1900-2009), Beirut 2010, published by the Garbis Nazarian Foundation
Hayots Tseghasbanutenen Arach Yev Yedk (Before and After the Armenian Genocide), Antelias 2011 received the Kevork Melidenetsi Literary Award
Haygagan Hartsi Holvouyte, 1939-2010 (The Development of the Armenian Question, 1939-2010), Beirut, 2012
Mamoulen Prtsouadz Echer (Pages torn from the press) Beirut, 2013 (which is a collection of his articles written in the press 1963-2010)
The Armenian Paricipation to the Legislative Elections of Lebanon 1934-2009, Beirut, 2014

He has contributed the biographies section (pp. 379-428) of Christopher Walker’s Armenia, The Survival of Nation, London, 1980.

He has over 100 published Armenological studies or articles in Armenian and in English, in Armenological Reviews such as Haigazian Hayakidagan Hantes, (Haigazian Armenological Review), Armenian Studies, Hask Hayakidagan Darekirk (Hask Armenoligical Yearbook), Hussussian Hayakidagan Darekirk, Shirag, Gamar etc. He has been on the editorial board of Armenian Studies (in 1973), Shirag (1965-1985 and 1997) and Gamar (since 2005). He has contributed particularly to special issues of Zartonk,Ararad, Aztag, Yergir, Nor Or, AGBU’s Khossnag monthly and other publications such as Beirut Weekly, The Daily Star and Monday Morning.

He has also been the editor of three books published by the Richard and Tina Carolan Publication Fund of the Catholicossate of Ciclicia, Vartan Matevossian’s, Haravayin Goghmen Ashkhari (Antelias, 2005) and Hagop Cholakian’s, Andioki Mertsaga Tougi Hovidi Hayere (Antelias, 2006) and Isabel Kaprielian Churchill’s Sisters of Mercy and Survival, Armenian Nurses 1900-1930, (Antelias, 2012).

He has given public lectures in Beirut, Tripoli, London, New York, Paramus, Boston Chicago and Los Angeles.

In 1973 through his efforts a U.N. report (30th paragraph) mentioned the genocide perpetrated on the Armenians as the first genocide of the 20th century.

In 1979 he discovered a confidential UN report about the War Criminals of 1948, which included 6 pages concerning the massacres of Armenians in 1915. This document was used in securing the UN Human rights commission’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 1985.

His biography also appears in Karnig Stepanian’s Gensakragan Pararan (Biographical Dictionary), (vol. III) (Yerevan, 1990), Haygagan Harts Hanrakidaran (The Armenian Case Encyclopedia) (Yerevan, 1996) and Haygagan Hamarod Hanrakidaran (Concise Armenian Encyclopedia) (vol. III) (Yerevan 1999), Ov Ove Hayer Gensakragan Hanrakidaran (Who’s Who, Armenians, Biographical Encyclopedia) (Vol. II, Yerevan, 2007), also in the publications of the International Biographical Association of Cambridge, such as Dictionary of International Biography (Vol. XVIII), International Who’s Who of Intellectuals (Vol. VI), etc.

On 14 August 2007 The Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians Karekin II bestowed upon him the medal of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob by an encyclical. The medal was awarded in a public tribute, in Los Angeles, organized by the Armenian General Benevolent Union, with the participation of the Armenian Missionary Association of America and the West Coast Alumni Association of the Armenian Evangelical College.

On 23 February 2014 the Catholicos of the Great of Cilicia Aram I bestowed upon him the medal of St. Mesrob Mashdots and an encyclical, in a ceremony at Antelias, in the attendance of invitees.

On May 23, 2014 the president of Republic of Armenian Serge Sarkisian granted Dr Zaven Messerlian the "Movses Khorenatsi" medal for his achievements as a historian and archeologist.