The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Dr. Sona Aronian Book
Prizes for Excellence in Armenian Studies: Prof. Houri Berberian for the
monograph Roving Revolutionaries: Armenians and the Connected Revolutions in the Russian, Iranian, and Ottoman Worlds
(University of California Press) and Dr. Lou Ann Matossian, Dr. Vartan
Matiossian, and the late Aris Sevag for the translation of Bedros
Keljik’s Armenian-American Sketches
(The Armenian Studies Series of the Press at California State
University, Fresno). The 2020 awards are for books with a 2019
publication date.
NAASR’s Aronian Book Prizes were established in 2014 by the late
Dr. Aronian and Dr. Geoffrey Gibbs, to be awarded annually to
outstanding scholarly works in the English language in the field of
Armenian Studies and translations from Armenian into English.
Berberian’s Roving Revolutionaries
explores the interconnected aspects of three early twentieth century
revolutions—in the Russian, Ottoman, and Iranian empires—through the
involvement of Armenian revolutionaries in each, while also providing
insights into the circulation of revolutionaries, ideas, and print
across borders.
NAASR Academic Director Marc A. Mamigonian stated that “Roving Revolutionaries
makes important original contributions to our knowledge of Armenian
activism and political thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
within a wide regional/trans-imperial context and is grounded in
thorough research in archival and published sources.”
Dr. Berberian, via email, expressed her thanks for “this honor and recognition of Roving Revolutionaries,
especially at this moment in time, when the book's protagonists—those
committed to peaceful co-existence and self-determination—have become
endangered species and the hybrid and cosmopolitan world they inhabited
almost unrecognizable.”
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The prize awarded for the translation of Keljik’s Armenian-American Sketches (originally published in 1944 in Armenian as Amerigahay Badgerner),
recognizes a team effort which includes the efforts of the three
translators, Aris Sevag, Dr. Lou Ann Matossian, and Dr. Vartan
Matiossian, as well as the publication’s co-editors Christopher Atamian
and Barlow Der Mugrdechian. (Matossian also served as a co-editor.) Lou
Ann Matossian first translated one of Keljik’s “sketches” and published
it in Ararat Quarterly in 1997
and subsequently lectured on Keljik at NAASR in 2010; the late Aris
Sevag translated the remainder of the book prior to his death in 2012;
and Dr. Matiossian translated additional Keljik pieces published in the Baikar Annual in the 1940s.
As Dr. Matossian commented, “If Leo Hamalian and Aris Sevag had not
published the early translations, or Marc Mamigonian had not invited a
lecture on Keljik, or Christopher Atamian had not taken an interest, or
Barlow Der Mugrdechian had not accepted our proposal, or Vartan
Matiossian and the Keljik brothers had not come on board, or Asdghig
Sevag [widow of the late Aris] and the donors been less generous, this
chain could have been broken at any moment. The reappearance of the
Keljik stories really was due to the passion of every individual along
the way.”
Echoing these sentiments, Marc Mamigonian noted that “in awarding the prize for Armenian-American Sketches,
we recognize the important contribution the book makes to expanding our
knowledge of Armenian-American literature and culture. I wish that our
late friend and colleague Aris Sevag were alive to receive this award
along with Lou Ann and Vartan, and I am grateful that Asdghig can accept
on his behalf. Furthermore, while the prize itself is given to
translators, we also want to acknowledge with gratitude the vital
efforts of Christopher Atamian and Barlow Der Mugrdechian in making this
publication a reality.”
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Authors
or publishers wishing to submit books for consideration for future
Aronian Prizes may contact NAASR Director of Academic Affairs Marc A.
Mamigonian at marc@naasr.org.
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