Cardiac surgeon Hagop (Hrayr) Hovagimian has been awarded the title of National Hero by a decree of Armenian President Armen Sargsyan for his many years of selfless work to save countless lives.

Dr. Hovagimian, an Aleppo native, is the first doctor in Armenia to be awarded this highest of government honorifics.

Hovagimian moved to Armenia after the country’s independence and worked at Yerevan’s Mikayelyan Institute of Surgery (1992-1993).

 In 1993, he founded the Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Yerevan’s Nork-Marash Medical Center. In 1996, he launched the Department of Adult Cardiac Surgery.

Hovagimian now serves as the chief cardiac surgeon at the Nork-Marash Medical Center. He has trained many Armenian doctors in the field of cardiac surgery.