The Ara Hreshtagian Chair of Armenian Studies at Beirut’s Saint Joseph University of Beirut was inaugurated  on October 27, 2025.

This new academic structure was realized thanks to the donation of the Hreshtagian family. The chair which will operate in the Oriental Library, will focus mainly on research work, organizing conferences, workshops, exhibitions on scientific and cultural topics, and teaching Armenian studies.

Dr. Vahe Tashjian, the chair’s executive director, said the establishment of the new chair allows people not only to benefit from the rich collection of Armenian books located there, but also enrich them with new books, as well as create an archive of Armenian memory materials (old photographs, films, documents, handwritten memoirs, etc.) in collaboration with the library.

Tashjian reflected on his experience as the general director of the Houshamadyan website for fifteen years where Armenians from all over the world provided their family materials in a digital version to the Houshamadyan organization based in Berlin.

Tashjian then focused on a specific project that could become one of the first important initiatives of the new chair: the creation of a website about the Armenian communities in Lebanon and the Middle East in general, with the aim of restoring the memory of community and family life.