SCHOOLS, THE CORNERSTONE OF THE AGBU'S PROGRAMIN THE 1950 AND 1960s
The break in the AGBU’s relations with the Soviet Armenian regime led to important shifts in its humanitarian strategy, freeing up the income generated by several funds and bequests originally earmarked for investment in Armenia. This income could now be spent on projects in the diaspora. Thanks to the Agopian endowment, established in memory of Tarouhi Agopian to provide educational assistance for girls, the Tarouhi Agopian Middle School was built in Beirut in 1939.35 £800 that had, until the rupture in relations with Armenia, been used to defray the expenses of a Yerevan maternity ward built by the Union was now attributed to the new school, which, in accordance with the donors’ last wishes, was reserved for girls.36 Located in Beirut’s Jemeyzeh district, it was inaugurated in October 1939, awarding its first thirteen diplomas the following year. In 1961, the school moved into a new, modern building on 56,500 square-foot grounds in the Hazmiyeh district. Read all
The AGBU’s Armenian School System
Children from Beirut's Taruhi Agopian School visiting the Antilias Catholicosate on 29 March 1940. Seated, from left to right: Mrs. Svejian (teacher); Nshan Hovhannisian (teacher); Pyuzant Yeghia-yan; Father Norayr Bogharian (director of the seminary); Archbishop Khat Acha-bahian; Archbishop Bedros Saradjian (locum tenens of the Catholicossate); Fa-ther Khoren Paroyan; Z. Arakelian (teacher) (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Pupils and staff of the Tbrotsaser School in 1937 (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).