Juan David Latorre
The Ambassador of Armenia, Sos Avetisyan, inaugurated Monday the Extraordinary Chair of Armenian Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Artur Martirosyan, who came to Spain for the occasion.
The president of PRISA group, Joseph Oughourlian, who has Armenian origins, was in charge of presenting the chair, which he described as “essential and necessary because of the cultural gap that exists between Spain and Armenia. The idea of promoting this chair is fundamental for knowing what is happening in Armenia and its contemporary history”. Joseph Oughourlian recalled the history of the Armenian King Leon V, to whom the King of Castile Juan I granted the lordship of Madrid, Andújar, Guadalajara and Villarreal (today, Ciudad Real) and a rent of 150,000 maravedis, back in the 14th century.
PRISA president ended his speech by stressing that “the cultures of Spain and Armenia are very similar, the taste for parties and going out with the family. They are like two great friends who do not know each other”.
The Armenian ambassador, Sos Avetisyan, stated that his first wish since arriving in Spain was to spread the knowledge of Armenian history and culture, which has been till now “completely unknown here”. “For this”, he said, “a chair of Armenian Studies is necessary, and I am very happy to have achieved it. In Spain, academic texts referring to my country are all in English, very few in Spanish. There must be more texts about Armenia in a language that is spoken by half a billion people around the world”.
The Armenian ambassador ended by expressing his wish that “in the future a University Institute of Armenian Studies will be set up, and that the curriculum of this university will include content on our history and our culture”. “The Spaniards are very good at team sports, and we Armenians are very good at individual sports, such as chess”, he said to express that “we Armenians are not very good at collaborating, but the Armenian Embassy is always open to offers of all kinds, and so is the chair. We try to cooperate, we want them to feel that this chair is part of them and their own, we want them to feel welcome”.
Deputy Minister of Education Artur Martirosyan pointed out that this is the 13th Chair of Armenian Studies to be opened abroad, and in the case of the one inaugurated at this event, “we want to take advantage of the projection of Spanish to publish more works and disseminate Armenian culture.” The Armenian Deputy Minister said he hoped that “this chair will help to strengthen relations with Spain at all levels”, relations that are now in their 30th year.
Lastly, Francisco A. Zurian, Director of the Chair of Armenian Studies, spoke. “This chair, he said, was born of an agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, with the invaluable support of the Armenian Embassy. It is an initiative that aims to raise awareness and bring our two peoples closer together. Also to constitute a link between our university and Armenian universities to develop cultural programmes, education and scientific projects that will help us to develop our peoples more and better”.
The chair will offer studies on Armenian history, culture, art, politics, economy, tourism, trade, diaspora, etc., and disseminate these works both in the European Union and in Latin America. “The Chair, continued Francisco A. Zurian, also has a vocation to offer a space and a community for the entire Armenian population in Madrid and throughout Spain” (40,000 in total).
Finally, the audience was treated to a performance by the singer Kristine Abrahamyan and the soloist of the traditional Armenian duduk instrument, Norik Sahakyan.
