October 19, 2007
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Gonzalo H. Guarch of Spain Awarded 2007 Garbis Papazian Award

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    AGBU Garbis Papazian Award Committee member Razmik Hartunian
    AGBU Garbis Papazian Award Committee member Razmik Hartunian-Tamrasians (right) applauds Gonzalo H. Guarch as the Spanish author displays the 2007 Papazian Award plaque.
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    (L to R) AGBU Garbis Papazian Award Committee member Razmik
    (L to R) AGBU Garbis Papazian Award Committee member Razmik Hartunian-Tamrasians, Award founder Garbis Papazian, and 2007 Award winner Gonzalo H. Guarch at the award ceremony in Vienna, Austria on October 5, 2007.

On October 5, 2007, Spanish intellectual, writer, architect, and urban planner Gonzalo H. Guarch became the fifteenth recipient of the AGBU Garbis Papazian Award in a ceremony that took place at the Calouste Gulbenkian Hall adjoining the St. Hripsime Armenian Church in Vienna, Austria. Under the high patronage of Dr. Ashot Hovakimian, Ambassador of Armenia to Austria, and in the presence of Garbis Papazian himself, among other religious and lay dignitaries, the event acknowledged Guarch's literary and academic work pertaining to the Armenian Genocide, including his novels El Arbol Armenio (Armenian Tree) and El Armenio (The Armenian), about the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the reasons behind the Armenian Genocide.

Opening remarks were delivered by longtime AGBU member Razmik Hartunian-Tamrasians, member of the Award Committee and authorized representative of Garbis Papazian. Bagin Hartunian-Tamrasians, a student in the faculty of law of Vienna State University, spoke highly of Guarch's professional accomplishments, mentioning other awards bestowed upon him and focusing on his efforts in connection with the Armenian Question.

The musical portion of the program began with a rendition of Komitas' "Krunk," played by violinist Shushanik Aleksanian, a graduate of Yerevan State University doing post-graduate study in Vienna, followed by Arno Babadjanian's "Elegy," played by pianist Nareh Arghamanian, a student at Vienna State University.

Congratulations were offered by Ashot Aleksanian, Envoy of the Republic of Armenia to Austria, in Ambassador Hovakimian's absence. Bagin Hartunian-Tamrasians, in turn, read the congratulatory letter of Berge Setrakian, AGBU President.

The program concluded with musical performances by Shushanik Aleksanian, Nareh Arghamanian and Mariam Arghamanian.

The AGBU Garbis Papazian Award was established in 1988 through the initiative and with the financial resources of Garbis Papazian, for the purpose of recognizing non-Armenian intellectuals who contribute to an increase in awareness of Armenian history, culture and the Armenian Question.

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