Dr. Vartan Matiossian
Vartan Matiossian is an Armenian Studies scholar specialized in history and literature. He is the Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in New York. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay), he moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina) in his childhood and graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. He has lived in New Jersey since 2000. He obtained his Ph.D. in History from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia in 2006.
He has published extensively in Armenian, Spanish, and English, including ten books and many scholarly articles, reviews, translations, and commentaries. He has edited several volumes and translated more than two dozen of books into Spanish, English, and Armenian. He is the author in English of Armenian Language Matters (2019), The Politics of Naming the Armenian Genocide: Language, History and ‘Medz Yeghern’ (2022), and has co-authored A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shamakha” (2023) with Artsvi Bakhchinyan. His book The Color of Choice: The Armenians and the Politics of Race in the United States and Germany (1890-1945) will be published in the summer of 2025.
- Armenia-US Relations— U.S.-Armenia relations, including USAID programs, defense cooperation talks, Armenian-American lobby efforts, and Washington's South Caucasus policy.
- Armenian Church— The Armenian Apostolic Church's role in national identity, the Pashinyan government's conflict with Etchmiadzin, and the arrest of clergy in 2024–2025.
- Armenian Genocide Recognition— International recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, its political and legal dimensions, and ongoing efforts at accountability and reparations.
- Armenian News— Groong's weekly round-up of the latest news from Armenia, Artsakh, and the Armenian diaspora, covering politics, society, and international affairs.
- Azerbaijan— Azerbaijan under Ilham Aliyev, including domestic repression, oil-funded military buildup, and the use of force to resolve the Karabakh conflict.