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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Richard Kloian, Founder of Armenian Genocide Resource Center, Passes Away

With examples from Richard Kloian's compilation of original New York Times reports of the ongoing Armenian Genocide

SAN FRANCISCO—Richard Kloian, who established and directed the Armenian Genocide Resource Center, was laid to rest today in the presence of family and friends, at Rolling Hills Memorial Park in El Sobrante, California.

Richard was 73. He passed away on May 1 after a massive stroke. At the funeral services, Roxanne Makasdjian, the chairperson of the Bay Area Armenian National Committee (ANC), spoke about Richard Kloian’s major contribution to the work of organizations pursuing recognition of the Armenian Genocide, to the field of genocide studies, and to the general public’s understanding of the Armenian Genocide.

Raffi Momjian, the director of the Genocide Education Project, for which Kloian acted as advisor, read a few of the many comments sent by scholars expressing their remembrances about Richard. Israel Charny, the executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, wrote, “I consider him a GIANT on behalf of Armenian Genocide recognition and memory. His devotion to his work in enabling education and memory about the Armenian Genocide was immense.”

Dennis Papazian, professor emeritus and founding director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, wrote, “He was a man dedicated to the truth and willing to gather the evidence for all to see. He was a true gentleman, and hated no one. His only desire was to educate and enlighten. He believed that enlightened people would do the right thing. He had a positive outlook. He is irreplaceable."

Raffi Momjian wrote "Richard has selflessly dedicated his whole life to seeking out and disseminating the truth about the Armenian Genocide. We all owe so much to Richard and feel obligated to continue his important work."

Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier and president of the United Armenian Fund wrote, "It is with great sorrow that I learned of the untimely passing away of a dear friend, great patriot and tireless fighter against Turkish denialism. I wonder who will continue his good work? How many Richard Kloians do we have in this world? I am afraid, very few, if any. May the Good Lord bless his soul and console his heart-broken family and friends everywhere."

Richard Kloian and the Armenian Genocide Resource Center (AGRC) which he founded and directed are best known for the book-length compilation of The Armenian Genocide: News Accounts from the American Press, 1915-1922, a landmark collection of articles reproduced from the New York Times and other sources that were painstakingly compiled from microfilm in the years before digitization and the Internet made historic newspaper stories widely accessible.

Many times Richard Kloian's book proved a decisive tool in winning over political leaders and public institutions to recognize the Armenian Genocide. What could be more persuasive evidence than then current New York Times reports of the genocide day after day as the Armenian holocaust was taking place! Originally published in 1980 and 1981 as Armenian Genocide: First 20th Century Holocaust, subsequent editions through 2007 were expanded to cover the Hamidian massacres of the 1890's and the Adana massacre of 1909.

The Armenian Reporter describe Richard as "an amateur in the highest sense of the word, Richard devoted himself to public education about this crime against humanity, drawing on the social acumen and networking experiences of a rich and varied life. The Detroit native, born March 7, 1937, studied science in high school and English and French in college, also developing interests in astronomy, photography, and music. A retail manager during the work week and an accomplished Latin percussionist on the weekends, he was playing at the Puerto Rican Club in Detroit when he met his future wife Antonia, a beautician and former nun to whom he was married more than 40 years."

Richard did not have higher academic degrees, but he was recognized as an outstanding leader of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. For those who knew him and his work and respected and loved him, his work was seminal and far-reaching. Under his direction, in addition to the best-selling book of news accounts, AGRC compiled hundreds of articles from scholarly journals and published a large number of booklets and readers. Particularly outstanding, the AGRC compiled, edited, produced, and distributed a 400-page resource manual of maps, web sites, photographs, news reports, primary-source documents, scholarly articles on the Genocide and its denial, and U.S. state-level curricula that mandated teaching about the Armenian Genocide.

Richard Kloian also maintained a warm active relationship with many non-Armenian leaders in genocide studies, and saw himself and his work seeking a better world not only for his beloved people but for all peoples.

Please click here for several examples of Richard Kloain's compilations of New York Times articles reporting the Armenian Genocide as it was taking place as they appear in The Armenian Genocide: News Accounts from the Armenian Press, 1915-1922.



The following is a transcript of the funeral service remarks by Roxanne Makasdjian, Chair, By Area Armenian National Committee (ANC):

It’s hard for me to accept that I’m standing here this morning, to say goodbye to Richard. Richard was someone who you never wanted to believe would not be here one day. He was so much younger than his years, and he had such endless energy. Although on many occasions I wondered how his work would be carried on after him, I didn’t really think this time would come.

I met Richard almost immediately after I began volunteering for the Armenian National Committee when I moved here in the 1980’s. He had just published his book, The Armenian Genocide: News Accounts from the American Press, 1915-1922. This was truly a landmark publication because the collection of these New York Times and other articles was not only a useful reference book for researchers, but for groups like the ANC, it was then and still is the perfect public information tool to make the case for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Richard had done it all by himself, spending endless hours at UC Berkeley, going through pages and pages of newspaper microfilm.

When we initiated a committee to help teachers include the Armenian Genocide in their coursework, all roads led to Richard Kloian, who had been a key resource for teachers for years. Getting to know him, I soon realized that he had an unstoppable passion and talent for bringing documentation about the Armenian Genocide to the broad public. I began getting a stream of emails from him, with the most interesting articles, reports, first-hand accounts. Sometimes, it came so fast and furiously, I had to stick them in a folder I called “stuff from Richard” until I could make time to film them all properly.

Richard once told me how this passion of his first bloomed. It was when his father died in 1976. Richard discovered his father’s diary, which told a harrowing tale of genocide survival. It was then that Richard’s life work turned irreversibly to the Armenian Genocide. His new interest filled his evenings after work. Soon, his mission became a full-time volunteer effort, bringing to light this “forgotten history.”

By 1997, he had established the Armenian Genocide Resource Center (AGRC). Through the AGRC, Richard has single-handedly collected a vast amount of documentation on the Armenian Genocide, helped get long-lost memoirs and documents published, and has developed many useful materials for helping locate and acquire historical and current works. He also found films about the Armenian Genocide from around the world and got permission to reproduce them for the general public. As many of you know, one of his most recent labors of love was restoring and editing the only surviving segment of the 1919 silent Hollywood film, “Ravished Armenia.”

Richard’s perseverance and drive were incomparable. His work was an everyday act of courage because each day, by himself, and without any compensation, he fought the powerful forces of “forgetting.” Not only did his work fight historical revisionism, it served to enlighten educators and politicians alike who encounter Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide regularly. His work has helped broaden the discussion of genocide studies because so many non-Armenians sought out his materials and his vast knowledge of historical resources.

But to characterize Richard only in terms of his contributions to Armenian Genocide education would not give the true picture. Born and raised in Detroit, Mich., one of five brothers, Richard, whose Armenian name was Diran, was an extraordinary Renaissance man. He had an avid interest in science, in music, in photography. He was an active member of the Astronomical Society in Detroit, where he organized public events and where he built his first deep space telescope with Dr. Donaldson Craig of Wayne State University. He studied French and comparative literature, and as an accomplished photographer, he was among the first in Detroit to capture on film the early phases of growth that revolutionized the Detroit skyline. And as a professional musician, he played in Detroit’s Latin and jazz orchestras. I’m told it was while playing music that he met his wife of 42 years, Antonia, and we all owe such a debt of gratitude that Antonia gave Richard the space to pursue his passion and give so much to the world.

The list of his accomplishments is so impressive, yet what I keep thinking about is Richard’s sweet and gentle demeanor, his genuine kindness, and his pleasing smile. Thank you, Richard, for brightening and enriching our lives, for teaching us, for showing us the way.



Israel Charny, Editor-in-chief of GPN Genocide Prevention Now and Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem wrote Richard's wife Toni, as follows:

I am so sorry! I have the warmest feelings for Richard and so deeply regret his illness and passing. Professionally, I consider him a GIANT on behalf of Armenian Genocide recognition and memory. His devotion to his work in enabling education and memory about the Armenian Genocide was immense. His contribution was one of the most significant, including of course the yeoman job he did in compiling the New York Times articles at the time of the Genocide, but also the excellent compilation of a wide range of resource materials that he provided.

Personally-professionally I have known few other Armenian Genocide professionals who had such a clear understanding of the significance of the genocides of other people along with the Armenian Genocide. And in Richard's case it extended to a profound interest and understanding of the nature of us all as human beings, which I valued so highly. Richard and I had a standing series of joking comments -- in all seriousness of course -- about how we were both aliens sent from planets out there down here to Earth to try, vainly, to convey to human beings the holiness of life.

I appreciated him, respected him and loved him.



The Resource Guide on the Armenian Genocide can be found at any of the following locations:

American National Committee America http://www.anca.org/endthegagrule/pdfs/ArmenianGenocide_StudentResources.pdf

University of Minnesota http://www.chgs.umn.edu/educational/armenian/

Armenian Genocide Resource Library for Teachers of the Genocide Education Project http://www.teachgenocide.com



Sources include personal statements as identified and the following published accounts:

Asbarez (May 11,2010). Founder of Armenian Genocide Resource Center, Richard Kloian, laid to rest. http://asbarez.com/?s=kloian&x=0&y=0

Armeniapedia.org (last modified on May 12, 2010). Richard Kloian (1937-2010). Copyright by Raffi Momjian. http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Richard_Kloian

Matossian, Lou Ann (Wednesday May 05, 2010 ). Richard Kloian, 73, pioneering Armenian Genocide educator, passes away. Armenia Reporter. http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=B77B3250-5870-11DF-B0670003FF3452C2