A scholarly conference on Hovhannes Kajaznuni as an architect was held in Yerevan on October 15, 2024, at the initiative of the Yerevan Office of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association and with the cooperation of the Chamber of Architects of Armenia.
Kajaznuni, born in 1868 in Akhaltsikhe, is best known as the first prime minister of Armenia (June 6, 1918, to August 7, 1919).
At the opening of the conference the distinguished architect Mkrtich Minasyan made remarks underscoring the importance of Kajaznuni’s contribution to Armenian architecture, in which he has left a significant legacy.
He thanked the sponsors of the conference and promised continuing cooperation.
Artashes Shabazyan, speaking for the Hamazkayin Central Executive Board, said Kajaznuni’s contributions go well beyond the social and political; he was a remarkable architect and intellectual.
Hamazkayin’s Yerevan office manager, Ruzan Arakelyan, also spoke.
Zaruhi Hayrapetyan spoke on behalf of the Aleksandr Tamanyan National Museum of Architecture.
The first session was chaired by Professor Emma Harutyunyan, who holds a Ph.D. in architecture. The speakers were Dikran Jinbashian, a former principal of the Hamazkayin M. & H. Arslanian Djemaran in Beirut; Lola Dolukhanyan, Ph.D.; Professor Ashot Grigoryan, doctor of architectural sciences; Professor Gevorg Stepanyan, Ph.D.; and Sarhad Petrosian, Ph.D.
The second session, chaired by Dr. Petrosian, opened with an intervention by Hamazkayin Central Executive Board member and architect Ara Kevorkian, who spoke from Lebanon about Kajaznuni as a political figure with an architectural vision—a man who was constructive, progressive, and meticulous in both politics and architecture. The other speakers were Professor Harutyunyan, architect-researcher Ruzan Kuranjyan, Professor Marietta Gasparyan and Professor Lyuba Kirakosyan, both of whom are doctors of architectural sciences.
Hamazkayin Yerevan Office
