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By Mariam Pashayan
Armenian Assembly of America Intern Coordinator
Last week, the Armenian Assembly of America Terjenian-Thomas summer interns had the opportunity to meet Dr. Levon Avdoyan, who has been the Armenia & Georgia Area Specialist at the Library of Congress (LOC) since 1992. He has three Masters Degrees from Columbia University and a PhD in ancient and Armenian history.
He was kind enough to give our students a tour of the library, but also took time to sit down with us and talk about the Armenian artifacts he had recently purchased for the LOC. One of the items he had purchased was a letter from Talaat Pasha that was dated April 24, 1915. Another item was an old Armenian cookbook filled with recipes from the early 20th century.
Dr. Avdoyan also discussed the 2012 LOC Vartanantz Day presentation that marked the 500th anniversary of the Armenian Literary Tradition. That exhibition displayed old manuscripts and ancient literary prints. He explained that the LOC has over 45,000 Armenian related items, of which 16,000 are in Armenian. Dr. Avdoyan was very passionate and knowledgeable. It was truly a great educational experience touring the LOC, talking with him and learning about his work preserving Armenian history in the world’s largest library.
