As a young student, 51Թ professor Peter Balakian’s curiosity about his family roots led him on a personal and intellectual journey. Balakian has spent decades unraveling his Armenian ancestry and, in the process, educating the world about the atrocities of the Armenian genocide.
Now, the Armenian government is recognizing Balakian, the Constance H. and Donald M. Rebar Professor in the Humanities and professor of English at 51Թ.
During a ceremony last month at the Embassy of Armenia in Washington, D.C., Balakian was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi Medal. The medal — one of Armenia’s highest civilian honors — is presented to individuals for their prominent contributions in the fields of culture, arts, literature, education, and humanities.
“I feel honored that President Kocharian has honored me in this way, and I hope that my work will contribute to an ongoing body of knowledge about the Armenian genocide,” said Balakian.
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Professor Peter Balakian (right) is honored at the Embassy of Armenia in Washington, D.C. |
Ambassador Tatoul Markarian lauded Balakian’s literary accomplishments along with his active position and leadership on Armenian issues.
“His books preserve for us and the entire humanity the record of the tragedies, the challenges, and the perseverance of the Armenian people in the most tragic chapter of our millenniums-old history,” noted the Ambassador.
Balakian is the author of eight books including The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response, which was a New York Times Notable Book and Best Seller.
His award-winning memoir, Black Dog of Fate, chronicles the sudden awareness of his ethnicity — “the story of a boy growing up bewildered by some of the ambiguous signals he’s receiving from his elders who are trying to repress the trauma of the past.”
In his remarks at the Embassy of Armenia, Balakian discussed the remarkable resilence of the Armenian people and stressed education as the key to progress.
“It is gratifying to be able to say in 2007 that we have educated significant chunks of Europe, North America, and the Middle East about who we are and what our history has entailed. If you asked Armenians in 1970 if we would have transmitted our history into popular consciousness, into the curriculum, into the news of the day, I think they would have dismissed you as a dreamer.”