CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. — Hirant Gulian, a leader of the greater New York metropolitan area Armenian community, passed away on January 13, 2025. He was 76.
Born in Dikranagerd to Gazaros and Samiran Gulian, Hirant grew up in Istanbul, where he attended Armenian school and served on the altar at the city’s Sts. Vartanants Church.
As a boy he began his apprenticeship under the jewelers Ohaness and Varujan Bahar, under whose tutelage he acquired his foundation in jewelry craftsmanship. At the age of 18, Hirant left Istanbul to begin a new life in America, settling in New York. His parents and siblings — Agop, Yervant and Mary — joined him soon after.
Hirant quickly immersed himself in Armenian community life, joining the Gomidas Choir (in which he sang during the consecration of St. Vartan Cathedral) and the Diocesan drama society pioneered by Dr. Nishan Parlakian and Jack Antreassian.
In the ensuing decades, the name and reputation of Hirant Gulian became known to everyone familiar with Armenian life. Every major Armenian institution, and numerous smaller ones, benefited from his dedication and leadership. These included Holy Echmiadzin; the Eastern Diocese; St. Leon Church; AGBU; Hye Doon; the Karabagh Committee; the Armenian-American Sport and Educational Center; the Armenian Radio Hour; various Armenian schools and youth groups; the Bolsa-Hye organizations; St. Giragos Church in Dikranakerd — among countless others.
He had a deep and abiding relationship with the Knights and Daughters of Vartan. It was among the Knights that Hirant found mentors for his early activism; and where, later, he would be recognized as an exemplary and visionary leader. In the 1980s, Hirant and his fellow Knight, the late Sam Azadian, led the pioneering committee that organized the first commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Times Square.