YEREVAN — In 1966, the now late Haigashen Ouzounian, one of the founders of Tekeyan Cultural Association and former member of the ADL and AGBU Central Board of Directors, established an eponymous literary award, which was given to four published Armenian-language books every other year.
After his death in 2006, his daughter, Taline Ouzounian Avakian, continued the awards in memory of her father.
On September 28, at the Tekeyan Center of Yerevan, more than 200 people were gathered to witness four intellectuals receive this year’s awards. Roupen Mirzakhanian, president of Tekeyan Cultural Association of Armenia and newly-appointed dean of the Pedagogical University of Armenia announced that the jury has decided the four recipients will be Stepan Boghosian for his book titled History of the Armenian Genocide, Sarkis Ghantardjian for the book The Destiny of the Armenians, Yervan Der Khachadourian for the book of essays, Independent Pages, and for the poems of Zareh Melkonian of California.
The closing remarks were made by Taline Avakian, who announced that her father’s legacy will continue for decades to come.