100 Famous Armenians

Abraham and Artyom Alikhanian (Abraham would go by the last name Alikhanov) were brothers and nuclear physicists. Their discoveries and leadership greatly advanced the study of nuclear physics.

 

 

The brothers were born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) during the days of the Russian Empire.  

 

 

Dame Sian Seerpoohi Elias is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

 

 

Elias was born in the United Kingdom in 1949. Her father was the son of Armenian refugees. 

 

 

Viktor Hambartsumian was one of the founders of theoretical astrophysics. His discoveries and his theories were at the vanguard of the new and burgeoning field.  

 

 

Hambartsumian was born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) in 1908 and moved to Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg) to study.

 

 

William Saroyan was among the most reputed American writers of the early 20th century. He would tell stories about the challenges and delights of rural America through the lens of life in the Central Valley of California. He won a Pulitzer Prize, an Oscar and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.

 

 

Known as “Iron Tigran,” Tigran Petrosian was a masterful defensive chess player and he reigned as world champion from 1963 to 1969. He became famous not for his flamboyance, but for his patience and methodology. Being the first Armenian world champion in history, he had a huge impact on the popularity of chess in Armenia.

 

 

Petrosian was born in Tiflis to an impoverished family. He played chess from a young age, and as his skills developed, he moved to Moscow to find more challenging players and improve his game.

George Deukmejian was the first Armenian-American governor of the state of California, in office from 1983-1991. He saw himself as a tough-on-crime candidate and was also supportive of human rights issues, divesting Californian investments from South Africa in a bid to help the anti-apartheid movement. He was also being considered as a potential candidate to run as vice president on George Bush’s presidential ticket, but ultimately declined.

 

 

Serj Tankian is an international superstar by any account. The former frontman for the Armenian-American rock band "System of a Down" has inspired a generation of Armenian youth and used his fame to unabashedly introduce the world to Armenians and their issues.

 

 

Yousuf Karsh was a renowned portrait photographer whose talent and unique style gained him access to some of the most famous leaders and personalities of the 20th century.

 

Aram Khachaturian was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. His music conquered the Soviet Union and, eventually, the world. He was known for melding Armenian folk melodies into his compositions.