The Musa Dagh Armenians in Anjar

Antranik Dakessian

The Musa Dagh Armenians of Anjar,  Lebanon tells a unique survival story in the history of the Armenian Genocide and development of the worldwide diaspora. Their heroic resistance against Ottoman forces in 1915, chronicled in the best-selling book Forty Days of Musa Dagh, is an unparalleled tribute to a community that not only took up arms to resist deportation, but also returned to their ancestral homes after the Genocide,  where they lived for two decades until the tides of history brought them to Anjar, Lebanon. 

Despite the hardships they faced during their early years in Anjar, they managed to build a thriving community, preserving their Musa Dagh dialect, traditions, and cultural life with remarkable consistency. Today, the Armenians of Anjar are considered one of the most cohesive Armenian communities in the Middle East. 

Originally published Abril 2026.

About the speaker

Headshot Square Antranik Dakessian
Headshot Square Antranik Dakessian

Antranik Dakessian

Dr. Antranik Dakessian is the editor-in-chief of the Haigazian Armenological Review and an Associate Professor at Haigazian University, in Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2011, he is also the director of the University’s Armenian Diaspora Research Center. He has published a large number of research papers on the Armenian communities of the Middle East, and is the author of several books, including The Lebanese Armenian Community: Volume I, Crossroads of Integration, 1920–2005. Dr. Dakessian obtained his PhD in International Relations from Swansea University, in the United Kingdom. He holds several master's degrees, from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, the American University of Beirut and the Yerevan State University.   

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