His Holiness Aram I Receives Rare Archival Photos of Bird’s Nest Orphanage from Former Orphan Vartan Melkonian

On Monday 6 October 2014, Mr Vartan Melkonian, a former orphan of Bird’s Nest and currently living in London, visited Catholicos Aram I. Mr Melkonian presented the Catholicos with a rare collection of photos, taken of the orphans during the time of the Genocide, which he had collected from Denmark and other countries. The photos will be placed in the new Genocide Museum at the Bird’s Nest in Byblos (Lebanon).

Mr Melkonian, a renowned composer and musician, who has conducted the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, always speaks of himself as an orphan from Bird’s Nest. He will commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Genocide and the memory of his parents, who were victims of the Genocide, by taking a walking tour in Cilicia with his daughter.

Before leaving, Mr Melkonian conveyed to His Holiness greetings from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

Source: