But
first, to get to know her, we must travel back to Beirut, Lebanon of the 60's:
Modern, liberal, more French than Arabic. A gem of a city. A center of the arts,
education and commerce. This, was the Beirut of Vartouhy's youth, and the
Beirut of my childhood.By Armenian terms, the city was host to various organizations founded for the youth, students, University students and professionals. Groups of people gathered across the city to weigh their interests in politics, culture, sports, business or charity.
Newpapers?
More than a dozen, including dailies; Publications? Hundreds of books printed each
year; Theatre companies? More than five permanent ones; Radio stations? Quality
programming with news and analysis (some, by Vartouhy and her team,) and the broadcast of contemporary music made by Beirut's
own home-grown talents Adiss and Manuel, and Armenia's stars Raisa
Megerdichyan and Roupig Matevosyan.
The
list of world renowned figures who made stops in Beirut on their way around the
world included Charles Aznavour, Aram Khachadourian, Peter O'Toole, Sophia
Loren, Herbert Von Karayan, and
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
Armenians
of Beirut had celebrities of our own: Seza, an
trend-setter in defining women's role in society, a feminist of the time;
Berj Fazlian, the founder of modern theatre in Lebanon, and Vartouhy's mentor and role model in all things artistic; Dickran Tosbat, a true free-thinking, independent journalist; Paul Guiragosian, whose paintings had taken
the region by storm; Varoujan Khedeshian, the genius of avant-garde
theatre and director of " Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf," in
Armenian; and Krikor Satamian, actor and director of "Cyrano de Bergerac"...
that marvel of French classics, staged ... in Armenian, of course.
When
people referred to the "A" in the AUB (the American University of
Beirut) as standing for "Armenian," they were not joking. Armenians
carried their weight in the departments of engineering, pharmacy, nursing and
medicine, both as students and faculty.
Then
there was the ideological Beirut. The
city was open forum to Levon Shant, Kersam Aharonian and Armen Gharib.
Writers, educators, newspaper editors... activists of different political persuasions,
united merely by a common language.
In
1965, over 50,000 Armenians gathered in the city's largest stadium to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Genocide (ten years later 200,000
marched in peace.) From thereon, Armenian students of Haigazian College took on
the role to actively advance Genocide recognition as a cause. Vartouhy was
a student there at the time.
By
the time the sixties ended, there emerged in the world the very model of a
modern, educated and sophisticated Armenian woman, and Vartouhy (née
Keshishian) was one of them.
It
was with this background, education and attributes that, twenty years later, she
was recruited by the founders of the AGBU School in Los Angeles. She assumed
administrative responsibilities for which she was understandably very well
prepared.
I myself
arrived to the scene, at the same School, as a parents and a volunteer, with
ideas of my own, and a Saroyanesque notion of an Armenian in America. In my
mind, the Armenian schools were newly-granted experiments, offering us an
unprecedented opportunity to draw new parameters of identity and
belonging.
Many were
accepting of my ideas, and I was fortunate. Of all those who were
welcoming, Vartouhy Kojayan was the most perceptive. By the time I got to
access volunteers who would make up a
team to put ideas to action, the criteria were drawn on a list, and they required individuals who would populate it with
positive check-marks next to each.
When it came
to Vartouhy:
Unique
style... check, Artistic... check,
Professionalism... check,
Worldly knowhow...check,
Fluent to speak and write Armenian... check,
Civility ... check,
Ability to listen to, understand and discuss ideas... check, check, check!
And most importantly, eyes and ears to scout young talents ...check.
After all we
were about to expand the opportunities of young talents, to create a stage for
them, celebrate our culture and heritage, and rally an entire community to
become part of the journey.
This, was the
beginning of our collaboration, and it was one roller-coaster of a ride. For
the next twenty years, Vartouhy's signature knack to structure a plan raised funds, rallied more than 360 volunteers
to participate, and an entire generation of students to build memories. It
brought value to the School, and I will never forget it, neither will thousands who worked with her.
So, what
does the future hold for Vartouhy? Well, well, well! That, my friends, is the million
dollar question, and the answer lies in her life's story - respect,
trust and, of course, love. The very meaning of a career well spent, and a life well lived.
Where's all that to be found? First and foremost,
with family - husband, son and daughter - and definitely with the little ones,
otherwise known as grandchildren.Then, there's friends - good friends, real friends, and honest friends. Perhaps, all of you.
You, across this page ... and I.
Now
you understand what I meant when I said that I've known Vartouhy since
my childhood, I have collaborated with her for twenty years, and she is my friend
for the rest of my life.
