Vazgen I


Vazgen / Vazken I

Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
ChurchArmenian Apostolic Church
SeeMother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
Installed1955
Term ended1994
PredecessorGeorge VI
SuccessorKarekin I
Personal details
Born
Levon Garabed Baljian

(1908-09-20)September 20, 1908
Died(1994-08-18)August 18, 1994 (aged 85)
Yerevan, Armenia
BuriedMother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin

Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest (Armenian: Վազգէն Ա Բուխարեստցի), born Levon Garabed Baljian (Լևոն Կարապետ Աբրահամի Պալճյան; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994)[1] was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 years, the 4th longest reign in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy. The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church hierarchy in Romania, he became Catholicos in 1955, moving to Soviet Armenia. Vazgen I led the Armenian Church during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was the first Catholicos in newly independent Armenia.

  1. ^ "Vazgen I". Encyclopædia Britannica.