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Henry Morgenthau III, Grandson of Ambassador Morgenthau and Lifelong Supporter of US Affirmation of Armenian Genocide, Passes Away at 101
(L-R) Kramer Morgenthau, Henry Morgenthau III, and Dr. Henry Ben Morgenthau standing underneath a photo of Ambassador Henry Morgenthau at the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan.
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America and Armenian National Institute mourn the loss of a longtime friend of the Armenian people, Henry Morgenthau III, who dedicated himself to honoring the memory of his grandfather, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau. He passed away on July 11.
Henry Morgenthau III in Yerevan.
In countless public presentations, in television appearances, and in numerous publications, Henry Morgenthau III recounted his recollections of his grandfather with whom he lived in New York City. He was honored on many occasions by Armenian organizations across the country.
The Armenian National Institute and the Armenian Assembly of America shared the distinction of organizing Mr. Morgenthau’s trip to Armenia in 1999 where he was honored by the National Academy of Sciences, the Armenian Genocide Museum, and the City of Yerevan.
Morgenthau was joined by his sons Dr. Henry Ben Morgenthau and Kramer Morgenthau, as well as Armenian Assembly President Carolyn Mugar, longtime personal friend of Henry from the time of his residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mrs. Kitty Dukakis, wife of the former governor of the state of Massachusetts and a board member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Armenian National Institute Director Dr. Rouben Adalian, Armenian Assembly President Carolyn Mugar, Kramer Morgenthau, Kitty Dukakis, Henry Morgenthau III, and Dr. Henry Ben Morgenthau at Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial.
The Morgenthau delegation was received by the president of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, met with several other officials including U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Michael Lemmon, and was the guest of honor at the naming of a Yerevan city school in honor of Ambassador Morgenthau.
“My grandfather frequently told me that his attempts to save Armenian lives at the time of the Genocide and the establishment of the Near East Relief effort were the achievements that meant the most to him,” Morgenthau explained on the occasion. Ambassador Morgenthau served as President Woodrow Wilson’s emissary to the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Front Row: Dr. Hrand Avetisyan, Dr. Pietro Kuciukian, Armenian Assembly President Carolyn Mugar, Dr. Richard Hovhannissian, Ambassador Michael Lemon, Henry Morgenthau III, Dr. Fadei Sargsyan, Dr. Henry Ben Morgenthau, and Dr. Lavrenti Barseghyan.
With Henry Morgenthau III’s endorsement, in 1996 the Armenian Assembly of America established the Henry Morgenthau Award for Meritorious Public Service which is given out to public officials in recognition of their contributions in defense of human rights. Recipients of the Assembly’s Morgenthau Award include the first U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia Harry Gilmore and U.S. Ambassador John Evans who publicly called for official U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Former Armenian Assembly Chairman Hirair Hovnanian, Samantha Power, Henry Morgenthau III, Ambassador John Evans, and Armenian Assembly President Carolyn Mugar.
A friend also of the Armenian National Institute (ANI), Henry Morgenthau III encouraged the organization with symbolic gifts of $1915 and joined with supporters and Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Tatoul Markarian in the opening of the ANI Library, to which he contributed his grandfather’s library.
Ambassador Tatoul Markarian, Henry Morgenthau III, and ANI Director Dr. Rouben Adalian at the opening of the ANI Research Library.
Henry Morgenthau III was an author and television producer. His family history, Mostly Morgenthaus, won the 1992 National Jewish Book Council prize for best memoir. He was a fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. Morgenthau’s shows on Boston’s public television station, WGBH, won Peabody, Emmy, UPI, EFLA and Flaherty Film Festival awards. Morgenthau also updated his grandfather’s memoir, Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story, with a lengthy postscript about the Ambassador’s life in the 2003 edition of the book published by Wayne State University Press.
Henry Morgenthau III’s brother, Robert Morgenthau, also a vocal advocate for Armenian Genocide recognition, served as District Attorney for New York County in Manhattan. Their father, Henry Morgenthau II, was Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Chairman Eduardo Eurnekian, Robert Morgenthau, Armenian Assembly Co-Chair Anthony Barsamian, and Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
“The Armenian people have lost a true friend with Henry’s passing. His grandfather Ambassador Henry Morgenthau played a critical role as the first opponent of genocide on the world stage as he defended the Armenian people. With his first-hand familiarity of his grandfather’s legacy, Henry stood with the Armenian people throughout his life, always ready to step up immediately to lend his gravitas in support of all essential issues for Armenians,” stated Armenian Assembly President Carolyn Mugar.
“Despite his advancing age, Henry continued to participate in Armenian Genocide commemorative and advocacy events. He was honored at the community-wide Centennial Genocide Commemoration in Washington, D.C. in 2015, where he walked on stage surrounded by his children and grandchildren. The Morgenthaus are legendary within the Armenian community, who are grateful that this noted family validated their traumatic history as a people by informing the entire world,” she continued.
Carolyn added: “Henry was exemplary in carrying on Ambassador Morgenthau’s commitment to genocide recognition and prevention. We all honor him for his total resolve to relentlessly stand up and speak out against injustices of the past. He used his voice to deepen people’s recognition of the importance of acknowledging the truth in history and thereby using this truth to prevent the recurrence of atrocities.”
Henry Morgenthau III speaking at the Republic of Armenia Academy of Sciences Conference.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
Aram Khachaturian would be 115 years old today, AGBU WebTalks Reminds us of His Early Years
Armine Grigoryan, Director of the Aram Khachaturian House-Museum in Yerevan, recounts the formative years of the renowned Armenian composer, from his childhood in Tbilisi to the beginnings of his prodigious musical career in Moscow. By the time he graduated from the conservatory, Khachaturian had already made his indelible mark on the likes of such giants of classical music as Prokofiev and Shostakovich, embarking on a musical career that would span decades and transcend borders.
Armine Grigoryan is the director of the Aram Khachaturian Museum in Yerevan, Armenia and a professor at the Yerevan State Conservatory. As an accomplished pianist, she also performs with the Khachaturian Trio, a laureate of a number of international competitions. During her musical career, Grigoryan has recorded several CDs, among them, “Unknown Khachaturian,” and performed in concerts throughout Europe, Japan, China, Russia, Australia, Canada and the United States. Grigoryan is a prize-winner of the “Roma-2003” international piano competition, competition, where she received a special Medal of the Chamber of the Deputies of Rome, and has been awarded medals from the Ministries of Culture of Poland and Armenia.
Armenian Student Associations in the U.S. Pen Letter in Solidarity with Student-Driven Movement in Armenia
Mother Armenia overlooking the latest peaceful demonstrations in Yerevan, Armenia on April 25, 2018. (Photo credit: Bared Maronian of Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Armenian Student Associations (ASA) from universities across the United States have assembled and penned a letter in solidarity with what they are calling a “student-driven democratization movement” taking place in Armenia.
“As members of a new generation in the diaspora, we stand with our Armenian counterparts in their quest to combat corruption and ensure democratic governance,” reads a part of the letter written by five Washington D.C.-area ASAs, and endorsed by 13 other ASAs across the country.
Tereza Sarkisyan, a graduate student at American University who is from Boca Raton, FL, told FLArmenians.com, “It’s true that in order for a political movement to succeed it must include the students and young adults who care about the future of their country. Armenian American students are proud of the youth in Armenia for instilling new hope and a desire to change in all of the Armenian people around the world. We want them to know that they are not alone. We stand with them and we’re proud to be Armenian because of them. The resilience of the Armenian people has inspired us and I hope this letter is but one of many steps taken to bridge the gap that exists between the diaspora and Armenia,” Sarkisyan said.
The letter goes on to state: “As students of the diaspora, we have the unique privilege to observe the unfolding events through a non-partisan lens and for this reason, can amplify the voices of our fellow student activists in Hayastan adding to their momentum,” reads another part of the letter. “We aim to be a uniting force that will empower the Armenian people to continue to set an example of a nonviolent, yet effective democratization movement.’
Read the letter in its entirety below.
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To the people of The Republic of Armenia:
We, as representatives of Armenian Student Associations across the United States, would like to express our solidarity with the student-driven democratization movement in the Republic of Armenia. As members of a new generation in the diaspora, we stand with our Armenian counterparts in their quest to combat corruption and ensure democratic governance.
We believe that the unbounded corruption of the undemocratically elected elite has directly led to the stunted growth and development in our homeland. However, we are hopeful and confident that this is the dawn of a major turning point for Armenia.
Though there is reason to celebrate the resignation of Serge Sarkisian as a victory, the struggle for a democratic transition continues. It is time for us, as the Diasporan community, to unite and acknowledge the grievances of the Armenian people and back the nascent democratization movement.
As students of the Diaspora, we have the unique privilege to observe the unfolding events through a non-partisan lens and for this reason, can amplify the voices of our fellow student activists in Hayastan adding to their momentum. We aim to be a uniting force that will empower the Armenian people to continue to set an example of a nonviolent, yet effective democratization movement.
We seek to join the likes of the Armenian Diaspora around the world who have stood with our brothers and sisters. We believe we must strengthen the dialogue and cooperation between the diaspora and citizens of the Republic of Armenia in aiding Armenia’s democratic transition.
We encourage the adoption of democratic electoral processes in Armenia and support a fair, democratic transition. We reject the legitimacy of any election that is carried out via bribery, coercion, or any form of electoral fraud. As such, we also support you in your rejection of the Republican Party of Armenia.
We call on members of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), who currently hold majority seats in Parliament, to uphold their promise and support the election of a people’s prime minister, in order to better represent the voices of the Armenian people, and moreover to be a part of the solution, for the future of their children.
We call on all Armenian Student Association organizations across the U.S. to stand with us against the Republic’s current regime and join the fight for a free and prosperous Armenia.
Getseh ankakh Hayastan! (Long live free Armenia!)
Written by the Armenian Student Associations of Washington, D.C.:
- Armenian Student Association of American University
- Armenian Student Association of George Washington University
- Armenian Student Association of the University of Maryland
- Armenian Student Association of the University of Virginia
- Armenian Student Association of Georgetown University
With support from:
- Armenian Student Association of Michigan State University
- Armenian Student Association University of Chicago
- Armenian Student Association Ramapo College
- Armenian Student Association University of Illinois
- Armenian Student Association Northeastern University
- Armenian Student Association Providence College
- Armenian Student Association University of Massachusetts Boston
- Armenian Student Association Grand Valley State University
- Armenian Student Association UC San Diego
- Armenian Student Association UC Irvine
- Armenian Student Association UC Riverside
- Armenian Student Association UC Los Angeles
- Armenian Student Association California State University of Northridge
- Armenian Student Association California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Armenian Student Association Santa Monica College
- Armenian Student Association Tufts University
- Armenian Student Association Temple University
- Armenian Student Association Boston University
Other Endorsements:
- Nina Melkonyan, St. Lawrence University*
- Ari Alexanian, Purdue University*
- Armenian Students of George Mason University*
- Armenian Students of Drexel University*
- Sophia Yedigarian, Fordham University
- Armenian Students of St. Louis University
- Armenian Students of Wayne State University
- Armenian Students of Brandeis University
- AEΩ Armenian Fraternity
- Armenian Students of University of Miami
*Signatories marked with an asterisk (*) are students who chose to sign the letter independent of an official ASA.
If you or your organization would like to be added to the list of endorsements, please e-mail us at dcarmenianstudentassociation@gmail.com.
Florida Armenians 