BELMONT, Mass.—On Thurs., Oct. 6, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will present a lecture by scholar and Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian, entitled “Raphael Lemkin and the Armenian Genocide in Light of New Research.”
By coining the word “genocide,” formulating its meaning, and through his lifelong struggle to render genocide a crime punishable by law, Raphael Lemkin exercised a profound influence on the discourse on the Armenian Genocide worldwide. In turn, from the mid-1940’s, Armenian newspapers embraced the term coined by Lemkin and engaged in discussions of the Genocide Convention and its implications, contributing to Lemkin’s efforts for the adoption and ratification of the Convention.
Mouradian will draw from a wealth of archival material—including Lemkin’s papers and newspaper articles published on three continents—to examine the impact on Lemkin of the destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Lemkin’s influence on the public discourse on the Armenian Genocide globally, and the role played by Armenian journalists and activists in advancing Lemkin’s cause. Within this broader context, Mouradian zooms in on the cooperation between Armenian intellectuals and Lemkin during the struggle for the ratification of the Genocide Convention by the United States.
Mouradian’s lecture will trace the path from the sands of Der Zor to the conference halls of the UN drafting committees and offices in Washington, where a joint struggle by Lemkin and his supporters was being waged against genocide and in pursuit of justice for its victims. As Lemkin himself said, “One million Armenians died, but a law against the murder of peoples was written with the ink of their blood and the spirit of their sufferings.”
Khatchig Mouradian is a Ph.D. student at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. His doctoral dissertation focuses on the destruction of the Armenians in the Syrian Desert during the Armenian Genocide.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). TheNAASRCenter is located on 395 Concord Ave., opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8 p.m.
For more information about the lecture, contact NAASR by calling (617) 489-1610 or e-mailing hq@naasr.org.
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