Levon Ter-Petrosyan 1st President of Armenia Date of Birth: 09.01.1945 Country: Armenia

1. Early Life and Education
2. Academic Career
3. Political Engagement
4. President of Armenia

Early Life and Education

Levon Ter-Petrossian was born on January 9, 1945, in Aleppo, Syria. In 1946, his family relocated to Armenia. Ter-Petrossian completed his Oriental Studies degree from Yerevan State University in 1968. He obtained a post-graduate degree from the Leningrad Institute of Oriental Studies in 1971. Ter-Petrossian earned his doctoral degree in 1987.

Academic Career

From 1972 to 1978, Ter-Petrossian served as a research associate at the M. Abeghyan Institute of Literature in Armenia. Subsequently, he held the position of Scientific Secretary at the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran) from 1978 to 1985. From that year onward, he worked as a senior research associate at the same institute.

Ter-Petrossian has authored over 70 scholarly works in Armenian, Russian, and French. He is a member of the Writers' Union of Armenia, the French Asian Society, the Mekhitarist Academy in Venice, and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of La Verne.

Political Engagement

Ter-Petrossian began his political activism in the 1960s. In February 1988, he became the leader of Matenadaran's "Karabakh" Committee. He joined the Karabakh Movement Committee of Armenia in May of the same year. From December 10, 1988, to May 31, 1989, he and other "Karabakh" Committee members were arrested.

In November 1989, Ter-Petrossian was elected to the board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement (APNM), later becoming its chairman.

President of Armenia

In August 1989, Ter-Petrossian was elected a deputy to the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR. He was re-elected as a deputy to the republican Supreme Council in May 1990. On August 4 of that year, he became Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia.

On October 16, 1991, Levon Ter-Petrossian was elected as the first President of the Republic of Armenia. He was re-elected to a second term on September 22, 1996. However, he resigned from office in February 1998.