It was with deep sorrow that we learned that on August 28, in New Jersey (USA), national benefactor and one of the warmest supporters of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, Mr. Nazar Nazarian, passed away at the age of 98.
He was born in Aleppo, Syria, the son of Levon and Satenik Nazarian, who were pillars of the local Armenian community. After graduating from the American University of Beirut with a degree in Pharmacy, he moved to the United States in the early 1950s, where he met the love of his life, Artemis Topjian, with whom he shared an exceptionally happy marriage. Their brilliant successes in various commercial ventures prompted the Nazarians to make numerous and continuous large donations, not only within the Armenian community of the New York-New Jersey area, where they lived and worked with their family, but also in North America, South America, Lebanon, Armenia and Artsakh.
Nazar Nazarian’s devotion to the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) came from deep family roots. He fully believed in the Union’s national mission. It was no coincidence that from 1978 to 2007 he was a member of the AGBU Central Board, regularly serving as Vice-President and Treasurer — ultimately earning the title of Honorary Member of the Central Board.
Convinced that every sacrifice was necessary for the well-being of our new generation, Nazar and Artemis Nazarian, through their countless donations, built community centers, created scholarship funds, and, through consistently made large donations, supported the Levon and Satenik Nazarian School in Beirut, the Levon Nazarian Hall in New Jersey, the Nazarian Center and Nubar Lounge in New York, the Artemis Nazarian Nursery of the AGBU Manoukian-Demirdjian School in California, and the Nazarian Hall in Buenos Aires, within which tens of thousands of Armenian children and youth have received care, attention, education and upbringing.
In 1998, the magnificent building Nazar built in Lebanon in memory of his brother Nubar has served from the outset as the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Lebanon. In 2000, within Armenia’s Levon and Claudia Nazarian Radiotherapy Center, the ultrasound equipment and state-of-the-art department was established thanks to Nazar Nazarian’s princely donation, through which thousands of lives have been saved to this day; through the Nazarians’ donations, many other hospitals in Armenia, Artsakh and Javakhk have also been equipped with ultrasound devices. The AGBU’s magnificent Nazar and Artemis Nazarian Center in Yerevan, which encompasses 5,000 square meters of office space, was also brought to life thanks to the Nazarians’ exceptional generosity.
The Nazarian couple also made frequent large donations to the Armenian Apostolic Church and numerous other Armenian organizations and institutions.
On the sad occasion of Nazar Nazarian’s death, we express our heartfelt condolences to his daughter Seda, his son and daughter-in-law, Levon and Claudia, and all family members. May his memory be blessed among the righteous.
Central Board of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party
