Role: Author

Henry A. Sarkissian is an Armenian who has spent most of his life in Iran. He was born in that country and educated there and in France. Observant, sensitive, perceptive, he is something of a philosopher and has devoted much of his life to scholarly pursuits. His in¬tellectual accomplishments include an amaz¬ing mastery of English acquired completely on his own without the aid of any formal instruction. Now retired from civil service, Mr. Sarkissian, the father of three grown chil¬dren, lives with his wife, Annik, in Teheran.

Rev. Riggs was born in Sivas in 1875 to a family of missionaries stationed in the Ottoman Empire. He grew up in the area, traveling to the United States to attend Carleton College in Minnesota and Auburn Seminary. He was president of Euphrates College in Harpoot from 1903 to 1910. After a break, he resumed missionary work in Harpoot in 1912, where he stayed until 1917. He worked as a teacher and evangelist among Armenian refugees in Beirut from 1923 to 1940. Rev. Riggs died in Jerusalem in 1943.