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Public lecture | Hayk Demoyan “The Road to the Book: Idea, Goal, Realization”

Aug 14, 2023 Events Public lecures

The National Library of Armenia organized a public lecture “The Road to the Book: Idea, Goal, Realization”.  
Doctor of Historical Sciences Hayk Demoyan spoke about the author's publishing programs and projects of the last twenty years, the ways of organizing research work, the implementation of publishing programs, presented the history of the creation of about two dozen books.  
He spoke about the difficulties of obtaining documentary materials, his searches and his discoveries. Demoyan stressed that the reliability of the material, photographs, and documentary basis is extremely important for him, stressed that this is his principle — any photographs or documents used in books must be made from the original ones.  
At the beginning of the lecture to the well-known proverb “A man must build a house, plant a tree and give birth to a child,” he added that a man must also write a book and collect a personal library, as many as three libraries.  
Demoyan has published several illustrated books: “Hayuhi. Coverage of the Armenian Genocide on the Front Pages of the World Press“, “The Image of an Armenian Woman on Engravings and Postcards”, “The Armenian Trace in America. 400-year Heritage”, “Aurora Road. The Odyssey of the Armenian Genocide Survivors”, etc. These books demonstrated the long, extensive and complex work that has been done to convey to everyone the message expressed there.  
In 2011, Hayk Demoyan discovered a photo archive of Arshaluys Martikyan in California. The only surviving family photo was also found there, on which Arshaluys is four years old. Also, in the archive, there is Arshaluys’ correspondence. After lengthy negotiations with her relatives, Demoyan purchased valuable documents and later other personal belongings belonging to Arshaluys, in particular the suitcase in which she arrived in America, as well as a collection of American newspapers containing articles about Arshaluys and her book “Devastated Armenia“.  
Demoyan also told how he purchased the already famous photograph of a smiling Arshaluys, on which her smile somewhat resembles that of Anne Frank, an author of a well-known diary and a Holocaust victim. He stressed that having these documents, it is important to continue to tell the world about the Armenian Genocide, to show the tragic fate of the people through the fate of one person.  
“The Armenian trace in America. 400-Year Legacy” is dedicated to the 400-year history of the arrival of the first Armenians in America. In 1618, the first Armenian named Martin (Martin the Armenian) arrived to Virginia, heralding an inflow of Armenian immigrants to America. The book is a 620-page illustrated work with 2,200 photographs, valuable archival documents, and rare images that reflect the history and heritage of the Armenian-American community, as well as the significant contribution of Armenians to the culture of America.  
Hayk Demoyan also donated valuable books and other materials that he has found during his research to the collections of the National Library of Armenia. His personal collection has replenished the collections of the rare book department.

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