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Sanjian (Avedis K.) papers
LSC.2187
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Avedis K. Sanjian papers
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2187
Physical Description:
25.8 linear feet
(24 record cartons, 4 document boxes, and 1 shoebox.)
Date (inclusive): ca. 1945-1995
Abstract: Avedis Krikor Sanjian, Professor emeritus of UCLA's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, was a world-renowned
scholar of Armenian studies who wrote ten books and authored more than 40 articles in English and Armenian. The collection
consists of personal and professional correspondence, Armenian studies lectures and notes, Department of Near Eastern Languages
and Cultures faculty meeting minutes, UCLA Armenian studies minutes, brochures and student publications, his research files,
publications, slides, microfilm, photos, audio and video tapes, curriculum vitae and biographies.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and Armenian.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Greg Sanjian, 1997.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9973225023606533
[Identification of item], Avedis K. Sanjian papers (Collection 2187). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processed by Kelly Besser with assistance from Rebecca Bucher, 2013.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
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Avedis K. Sanjian was born on February 24, 1921 in Marash, Turkey. After spending years in Armenian refugee camps in Syria
and Lebanon, the Sanjians moved to Palestine in 1926, and three years later settled in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem,
where he grew up. Sanjian earned two degrees in English: a bachelor's degree from the American University of Beirut in 1949
and a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1950. He married Helen Karaghuzian in 1950 and they had their son
Gregory in 1952. Four years later he became the first graduate student at Michigan to receive a doctorate in Near Eastern
Studies.
Sanjian's academic career began in 1957 with an appointment at Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies as a
postdoctoral research fellow in Armenian studies. He was appointed assistant professor of Armenian studies at Harvard University
in 1961, the first time full-time Armenian studies appointment in the United States. At Harvard, Sanjian developed the first
curriculum of Armenological courses in the U.S. and compiled
A Grammar of Classical Armenian to enable others to learn this language.
Sanjian left Harvard when the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) invited him to join its faculty in 1965 as associate professor of Armenian studies. Three years later he was promoted
to the rank of full professor, and in 1969 he was appointed to the first ever endowed chair at UCLA, the Chair for Armenian
Studies. At his suggestion in 1979, the Chair was named after medieval Armenian mystic poet Grigor Narekatsi. Also in 1969,
he inaugurated UCLA's graduate program in Armenian studies.
From 1970 to 1974, Sanjian served as Chairman of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, which had four undergraduate
and seven graduate degree programs. During this time he was also working on his opus,
A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States, a descriptive and analytical study of all Armenian manuscripts housed in the United States with the exception of the UCLA
collection for which he prepared a separate catalogue,
Medieval Armenian Manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles (Z6621.U65963 A76 1999). Sanjian finalized negotiations for UCLA's acquisition of this collection with Dr. Caro Minasian
and hand-delivered its most valuable item, the manuscript of the Four Gospels executed at the Armenian monastery of Glajor.
Sanjian wrote ten books and authored more than 40 articles in English and Armenian. He is a founding member of the Society
for Armenian Studies (SAS), served as its chairman on three occasions and as editor-in-chief of its publication, the
Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies (JSAS). He also served as a board member for the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and provided
testimony on the Armenian genocide before the United States Congress Subcommittee on Future Foreign Policy Research and Development
on May 11, 1976.
Sanjian, UCLA Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Emeritus, died at the age of 74 on July 22, 1995.
The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, Armenian studies lectures and notes, Department of Near
Eastern Languages and Cultures faculty meeting minutes, UCLA Armenian studies minutes, brochures and student publications,
his research files, publications, slides, microfilm, photos, audio and video tapes, curriculum vitae and biographies.
The collection has been arranged into the following series:
1. Correspondence.
2. UCLA files.
3. Research files.
4. Publications.
5. Audiovisual materials.
6. Curriculum vitae and biographies.