A gift from Tigran Mkrtchyan, Ambassador of Armenia to Latvia


The gift is received by Library director Andris Vilks on 7. April

The Inscription:
I am honoured to make a gift to the Latvian National Library’s People’s Bookshelf. It is Robert Hewsen’s magisterial “Armenia: A Historical Atlas”, published by the Chicago University Press almost 20 years ago.
The book is covering more than 3000 years of historical development of my people – the Armenians, in their historical homeland. I believe small nations, such as Armenians and Latvians, independent of the length of their history of relations, need to know each other better. Sadly, in our days there is a lot of false information circulating which is anti-historical and has nothing to do with academic knowledge. Only by encouraging fundamental academic research and by disseminating the results of such scholarship we do raise awareness about our peoples’ past. That is why, I am happy that upon relinquishing my capacities as Ambassador of Armenia in Latvia and as a token of the fruitful cooperation between the Embassy of Armenia and the Latvian National Library, I am passing the Atlas of Armenia to your already rich section of books about Armenia.

Photo: Kristians Luhaers