Sometimes only one person can change our lives. No matter bad or good, that’s another question. We can love someone and try to be like him or her. There are people who change history. Think a minute and remember who is the person or people who changed your life. Before that, I want to tell you about the most popular Armenians who are alive and who have changed the lives and history of all Armenian nations worldwide.
Charles Aznavour
There is no Armenian in the world who doesn’t love him and isn’t proud to have a compatriot like him. The man who doesn’t need to be presented. Singer, songwriter, actor, diplomat, activist and the most important of all, the greatest Armenian. The French people, of course, will say that Charles Aznavour is theirs. He was born in Paris in 1924 and live there all his life. He knows French better than Armenian. But I’ll say that he is our, but meantime he is a person of the whole world.
Charles Aznavour has his house in Yerevan, which also is a museum and also a homonymous square․ So many people in the world know Armenia thanks to him․ About his works, songs and help to the world you can read in a separate article.
Serj Tankian
A singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, political activist and the vocalist of the world-famous band “System of a Down” Serj Tankian is one of the most popular Armenians in the world. He is known also by people who don’t like rock. He is an expected guest in Armenia and always visits his motherland when people need his help.
Serj Tankian was born in Beirut, Lebanon on August 21, 1967. He married Angela Madatyan who is from Vanadzor in June 2012 in California. On October 24, 2014, they had a son named Rumi. Tankian is very active on social media. Now he has more than 548.000 followers on Twitter and almost 2 mln on Facebook. His messages are spread like a wildfire. He is a hero of many programs, but I want to separate a mini film of CNN about Armenia with Anthony Bourdain (R.I.P.).
More information about our legend you can find on his official website.
Cher
Cher or Cherilyn Sarkisian is the Goddess of Pop. She was born on May 20, 1946, in California. She is a not only a singer but also an actress, author, businesswoman, comedian, dancer, fashion designer, model, philanthropist, record producer, songwriter, and television host. She is the only artist to have had a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each decade from 1960 to 2010. Cher launched her solo career with “Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down”: the song which everyone knows and sings.
Instead of her age (72 in 2018) one of the popular Armenians continues her solo career, stands on the stage and gives smiles to people. She has more than 3.6 mln followers on Twitter and more than 2.4 mln on Facebook.
Enjoy one of her famous songs.
Andre Agassi
American professional tennis player and former No 1 Andre Agassi is also Armenian. His father has Armenian and Assyrian heritage. One of his ancestors changed his surname from Aghassian to Agassi to avoid persecution. Andre was born on April 29, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the winner of the many tournaments and also a record holder.
Levon Aronian
More than 700.000.000 people in the world play chess. And I’m sure that each of them knows who is Levon Aronian. Levon is one of the 10 greatest chess players in the world. He was born on 6 October 1982, learnt to play chess at 5 from his sister Lilit.
Chess has been always a passion for Aronian. He won many prestigious and important tournaments. In 2017 Levon won all tournaments - Saint Louis rapid and blitz, Norway chess, London chess and the World cup. His dream is to become a world champion and all Armenians also dream about it. We proud of having him.
If you are interested in our clever and honest chess player, read his infographic.
Ara Malikian
Ara Malikian is the virtuous violinist who was born in Beirut, 1968. He began studying the violin at an early age with his father. Already at the age of 12 gave his first concert.
He has had many concerts and continues to have. Her halls are crowded where people appear in a real fairy tale. He can give his energy to his audience and do a real boom on the stage. Violin true professionals and fans know him very well. Let’s enjoy one of his works.
Jivan Gasparian
When I listen to the voice of duduk, I remember a famous world duduk-player and a living legend Jivan Gasparyan. He was born in 1928, Armenia and learned to play the instrument at the age of six. His career has begun in 1948 when he became a soloist in the Armenian Song and Dance Popular Ensemble and the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Master, as they call him, not only a professional duduk player but also an author of new ideas. In 1998, Gasparyan released a unique album featuring duduk quartet music that he wrote and performed with 3 other duduk players. But traditionally, duduk music is written for two players where one player sustains a drone note, while the second player plays the song melody. They say duduk is the music of the soul and yes, it’s so. Why? Because you can’t listen to it without any emotions. The fantastic melodies of Jivan Gasparyan sound in many films. The most famous is “Gladiator”. Enjoy it.
Nikol Pashinyan
About Nikol Pashinyan we can say “the man who gave a smile to all Armenians”. I’m sure, you listened about a velvet revolution or revolution without blood. He is the author of it. Pashinyan is a journalist, political figure and a prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. He is a choice of all Armenians who have the love, trust, and faith of his nation. He is an exemplary husband and father.
His wife Anna Hakobyan is a journalist too. They have 4 children. Nikol Pashinyan has more than 485.000 followers on Facebook and this number is rising. He is the first political figure in the world who tells about his decisions, shows where he lives and so on. People trust and love him. No president and prime minister before him did it.
Now our lovely political figure works hard to clear Armenia from all bad drosses and make our country one of the best.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a professional footballer, a captain of the Armenian national team who plays for the English club Arsenal. He continues his father’s way who was a professional player. Henrikh was born on 21 January 1989 in Yerevan. He is an attacking midfielder.
Mkhitaryan began his career from Pyunik. After he played at Metalurh Donetsk, Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and from 22 January 2018 till now at Arsenal. Our lovely footballer is an author of many fantastic goals. A former Scottish footballer Pat Nevin said of Mkhitaryan, “Eleven goals in eight league matches already are fantastic, but when you add that he is a midfielder, it is phenomenal.
You may not have heard of him yet, even if all the scouts at the top European clubs have, but you soon will. He has pace, skill, a rocket of a shot and the ability to arrive in the box like Frank Lampard. This all singles him out as a player who must be watched or more importantly marked”.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan speaks 7 languages: Armenian, French, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, English, and German. Probably he is the only football player who speaks 7 languages. He is a handsome, talented, young and single.
Arthur Abraham
Arthur Abraham (Avetik Abrahamyan) is an Armenian-German professional boxer who was born on 20 February 1980 in Yerevan.
He is a multiple-time former world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF middleweight title from 2005 to 2009 with ten successful defenses (the fourth most in middleweight history), and the WBO super-middleweight title twice between 2012 and 2016.
Arthur Abraham was awarded a Hrant Shahinyan medal, a medal for the great services for Armenia" of the first degree, a title of 2009 Berlin Sportsman of the Year and Child Award 2009. Abraham had 53 fights with 47 wins and 6 losses. Avo, as his family members call him, married Mary in Yerevan(2015) but he informed media six months later. Arthur plans to open a boxing school in Armenia following his future retirement. We are sure that many boys will have good results there and wait for it.
More information you can find on the official website of Arthur Abraham.
Published June 16, 2018
Article by Shushanik Shahbazyan
