SOAR-Berlin joined the SOAR family in May 2013. Like much of the Armenian Diaspora, most Armenians immigrated to Germany after the Armenian Genocide of 1915. After the Second World War, many Soviet Armenians, former prisoners of war, fled to the American occupied areas of Germany. The first Armenian organization in Germany was the Armenian Colony of Berlin, established in 1923. By the mid-1980s, multiple Armenian associations were established in Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart. There are more than 30,000 naturalized Armenians living in Germany today.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Annie Marcaryan
President
Originally from Yerevan, Annie currently lives in Walldorf, Germany, working at SAP SE – a German Multinational Software Company. She married and moved to Sweden in 2000, later moving to Germany with her husband.
Annie has been a volunteer with SOAR since 2015. She is fluent in Armenian, Russian, English, and Swedish, and is currently learning German.
Zhanna Gevorgyan
Bio coming soon
Haig Ghokassian
Haig Ghokassian was born to a German mother and a Lebanese Armenian Father. Stories of the Armenian Genocide were very close to home, his grandfather having arrived in Lebanon on foot as a mere child. Haig was born and raised in Lebanon and moved to Germany in 1996 where he received his degree in industrial chemistry (Leather Engineering). A passionate entrepreneur, he later moved back to Lebanon to run and develop a family trading business with his father, established a successful retail outlet, and earned his MBA from Université du Québec à Montréal. Haig currently resides in Singapore with his family, where he has been working in the Oil & Gas and Energy sector for the past three years.
Kristina Gräf
Kristina was born and raised in Yerevan. She studied economics there in the early 1990s and then worked for several years in the bank sector. From 2002 to 2004, she continued her studies in Sweden, where she obtained her MSc in Economics.
Since mid-2004, Kristina has been living in Germany and has worked mostly in sales, primarily in former Soviet countries. In early 2020, she obtained a diploma as the Regulatory Affairs Manager for medical products while working for a company that produces medical devices & products for people with diabetes.
Kristina has a daughter, who is now 17 years old, and they visit Armenia every summer, sometimes even twice a year. She is fluent in English, Russian, Armenian and German. In her free time, she plays piano, badminton, and table tennis.
Ruzanna Harutyunyan
Ruzanna was born and raised in Armenia and moved to Germany 2014. Her professional study evolved in the State Engineering University of Armenia, where she earned her Master’s degree in the Computer Science field in 2005. Ruzanna works in the project/ product management field in various domains. Her favorite activities are reading, spending time in the nature, doing sports, spending quality time with friends and family. She speaks Armenian, Russian, German, and English fluently.
Dr. Martin Khojoyan
Dr. Martin Khojoyan was born in Gyumri (Armenia). He is a physicist, obtaining his PhD and Masters degree from the Physics Institute and the State University (Yerevan, Armenia). For several years he worked as a post-doctorate researcher in Germany and France.
Martin is fluent in Armenian, English, and Russian, and also speaks German. Dr. Khojoyan is also a professional chess player.