YSU’s Izmirlian Library acquires 300 titles from The Diasporan Free-Thinker’s Library of “Uncle Garabed”

YEREVAN—The family of veteran Armenian-American writer and editor “Uncle Garabed” has donated a diverse collection of valuable printed books in the English language from his personal collection to the Sarkis & Marie Izmirlian Library at Yerevan State University (YSU) for permanent use by its student body and faculty.

Uncle Garabed was also known as CK Garabed (pen names of Charles Garabed Der Kasbarian). This independent-thinking Armenian-American patriot devoted his life to acting in the national interest of both countries. His knowledge and wisdom were vast and sought after by many. He was often referred to as a walking encyclopedia and was dubbed “Uncle of All Armenians” by Reverend Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator’s Armenian Cathedral of New York City. 

It was the late Kasbarian’s wish that a portion of his literary holdings be made available to young, inquiring Armenian minds. “Understanding that the citizens of Armenia did not necessarily have natural exposure to global writings by nature of the Soviet experiment, Uncle Garabed was in favor of the transplantation of a portion of his library to Armenia,” said his daughter, Armenian-American journalist Lucine Kasbarian. His free-thinking philosophy on education, enlightenment and realpolitik was summed up by the English philosopher and statesman Sir Francis Bacon, who said, “Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”

Completing the book acquisition process were (l-r): Sima Chazakhetsyan, Lucine Kasbarian, Anahit Mkhitaryan and Lucine Karjian, posing here in front of the pantheon of Armenian literary greats at the YSU Izmirlian Library

Many literary subjects are represented in this collection, particularly material not readily available in the United States where these books were published. They include categories such as art, architecture and photography; biographies and memoir; classic English and American literature; English language reference books; geography and travel; hidden histories, global hegemony, geopolitics, war and genocide; metaphysics and science; mystery and crime fiction; mythology; philosophy and religion; poetry and prose; the works of William Shakespeare; and women’s literature.

Uncle Garabed (1927-2022) was an American-born Armenian descendant of Dikranagerd, Western Armenia. His grandfather, Kasbar Der Kasbarian, was the priest of St. Asdvadzadzin Church of the village of Alipounar, Dikranagerd and martyred during the Hamidian Massacres of 1984-96. Garabed was the son of Genocide survivors who arrived in the U.S. as refugees. Uncle Garabed wrote many articles, essays and short stories about the Armenian national condition. He also authored The Dictionary of Armenian Surnames, with special attention given to diasporan surnames with Persian, Arabic, Assyrian, Kurdish and Turkish etymological roots; The Dikranagerd Vernacular Handbook, containing words, sayings and terms from this endangered dialect of Western Armenia; The Dikranagerd Mystique Armenian Cookbook, featuring specific dishes from this regional culture; An Unusual Look at Biblical Subjects about Armenian Christian folk traditions; and Oyin Mi Tavli, a one-act play exclusively in the dialect of Dikranagerd.

Illustration of Uncle Garabed by Bill Terian for the Armenian Weekly

For 33 years and right up until his death, Uncle Garabed was a columnist for the Armenian Weekly newspaper of Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S. Within his weekly installments under the name “Uncle Garabed’s Notebook,” he presented an assortment of philosophical ideas written by global thinkers in addition to his own original thoughts and folk tales, anecdotes, poems, riddles, trivia and deconstructions of Armenian surnames.  

The YSU Library was founded in 1920. Today this academic library possesses about two million books and units, one million of which are academic. In 1995, an Armenian sponsor from Switzerland, Dikran Izmirlian, donated $1 million USD to the YSU Library for the application of modern techniques, after which time it was decided that the library should bear his name.

Sincere thanks are extended to administrators Yeznik Mirzoyan and Anahit Mkhitaryan and staff Sima Chazakhetsyan of YSU for their kind assistance in the book acquisition process. The shipping and warehousing of Garabed’s holdings was made possible by James Tufenkian and Mikayel Sukiasyan, to whom the Kasbarian family owes a debt of gratitude. To learn more about Uncle Garabed and his works, life and legacy, visit his Armeniapedia page at www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/C.K._Garabed. To learn more about The Diasporan Free-Thinker’s Library, write to Uncle Garabed’s family at this address at ckgarabed@aol.com

Guest Contributor

Guest Contributor

Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.