Avedis K. Sanjian; Armenian Studies Pioneer

Avedis K. Sanjian, 74, an internationally respected pioneer in Armenian studies who helped make UCLA a major center for the discipline. The Turkish-born Sanjian joined the UCLA faculty in 1965 and in 1969 became the first scholar in the nation appointed to an endowed chair for Armenian studies. He even suggested the name of the chair, Narekatsi, for the medieval Armenian poet Grigor Narekatsi. Los Angeles-based U.S. District Judge Walter Karabian once called Sanjian the “George Washington of university education for Armenians in the U.S.” Sanjian wrote 10 books and more than 40 scholarly articles and edited the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, an international organization he helped create. He earned two degrees in English, a bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. In 1956 he became the first graduate student at Michigan to receive a doctorate in Near Eastern studies. Sanjian taught at Harvard University before moving to UCLA. On July 22 in Los Angeles.