On Monday, September 30, a new manuscript gallery opened at the Alex and Marie Manoogian Treasury House Museum of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Carl and Emma Sogoian Manuscript Gallery houses 22 Armenian illuminated manuscripts and a copy of the first Bible printed in Armenian.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided over the opening of the gallery. Mrs. Sogoian, a parishioner of St. John Church of Southfield, MI, said she donated the manuscripts in honor of her late husband, Carl. Last November, she was awarded the “St. Gregory Medal” and Pontifical Encyclical during a celebration in Southfield.
“We are extremely grateful to the Sogoian family for preserving our national treasures,” His Holiness said. “This new gallery will make it possible for Armenians and members of the broader community to become acquainted with these rare works of faith and art.”
Also displayed in the newly opened gallery are documents from the Armenian Genocide, including the correspondence of the late Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Zaven Yeghiaian.
