Role: Author

Khachatur Abovian (October 15, 1809 – April 14, 1848) was an Armenian writer and national public figure of the early 19th century who mysteriously vanished in 1848 and was presumed dead. He was an educator, poet and an advocate of modernization. Considered as the father of modern Armenian literature, he is best remembered for his novel Verk Hayastani (Wounds of Armenia), which set the trend in both style and genre for subsequent literature. Written in 1841 and published posthumously in 1858 it was the first novel published in the modern Armenian language utilizing the Eastern Armenian dialect instead of Classical Armenian.\

Keri Topouzian was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 25, 1956, and then at 13, moved with his family to Birmingham, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1982. Dr. Topouzian’s mother, a journalist, was born and raised in Detroit while his father, a mechanical engineer, was born in Utica, New York. His grand parents hailed from four different villages in Ancient Armenia (now part of Turkey), each immigrating separately to the United States.\