SOAR - Bucharest Chapter
Bucharest joined the SOAR family in May 2019. In Bucharest, an Armenian presence was first recorded in the second half of the 14th century – most likely immigrants from the Balkans and from the area around Kamianets-Podilskyi. After the Armenian Genocide, Romania was the first state to officially provide political asylum to refugees from the area. In 1940, about 40,000 Armenians lived in Romania. Under communist rule, Armenians started to leave the country, and Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime eventually closed all Armenian schools. Since 1989, there has been an Armenian cultural and political revival in Romania. As of 2002, there were 1,780 Armenians living in Romania. There is one Armenian church in Bucharest on what is called Strada Armenească (“Armenian Street”). Beside the church is a two-story cultural center with the first floor being a library of Armenian books and the second floor a museum. The present community is being reinforced by Eastern Armenians immigrating from Armenia or by Armenian students coming to study in Romania.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Mariam Gevorgyan
President
Mariam Gevorgyan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Migration and Conflict Studies from Yerevan State University, as well as an LL.M in Health Law from Russian-Armenian University. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Sociology at the University of Bucharest. Additionally, she works as an expert Sociologist at the National Preventive Mechanism of the Human Rights Defender’s Office in Armenia.