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The Armenian President hosted the 2012 Presidential Award Ceremony on Wednesday.

The awards, along with enclosed certificates and monetary bonuses, were handed out by President Serzh Sargsyan and member of Robert Boghossian and Sons Foundation Albert Boghossian. Serzh Sargsyan congratulated the awardees and wished them every success.

In his congratulatory speech, the President said that several expert panels do a huge amount of nomination and selection work in advance of meetings like this held with the best of the best in the Office of President.

Referring to the whole process, the President said that it would be naive to think that every single artist might definitely agree with the committees’ opinions and, perhaps, it is in the natural course of events. The President urged them to be more patient and tolerant and expressed confidence that the best works would sooner or later win the jury’s appreciation.

“I am glad to see that today’s event is attended by both the older and younger generations of artists and scientists, which means consistency in our determination to hand down our people’s best traditions and assets from generation to generation.

In this context, I should single out one of the awardees, who unfortunately is not with us now. I mean our famous painter Hakob Hakobyan, who is getting a posthumous award. The great artist’s talent, as well as his deep and sincere patriotism earned him the title of “Master” - a title conferred upon by the people.

May God rest the Master’s soul! We remember him with warmth and love, and will of course miss him forever.

Of particular importance is the nomination for significant contribution to the cause of recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Today we are extending our vote of thanks to outstanding German expert in Armenian studies and genocides, human rights activist Tessa Hoffman and one of Diaspora-based key institutions – the Zoryan Institute.

Mrs. Hoffman brought us closer to the European and German traditions of humanism, which stood by the Armenian people all the way through their sufferings. Armenian Diaspora’s crystallized spirit was reflected in the activities of the Zorian Institute allowing our people not only to survive the disaster, but also to reaffirm their determination to live on.

Dear Friends,

Today’s function is completely flooded with positive energy, allowing us to acknowledge the work and contribution of our prominent award-winners. The award is not only a token of appreciation, but also a message to the future.

This award inter alia aims to inspire you ahead to new achievements. Not only do we therewith appreciate your services, but we also urge to do more for the glory of the Armenian people. Here, I must address a word of special appreciation to the family of Boghossians, who are taking a share in the developments in Armenia, including through support of this award.

Once again, I congratulate you all and wish you good health so that your future activities would be marked with new achievements. I wish you peace in your homes, as well as new significant works for the sake of Homeland and for the good of the Armenian people,” the President concluded.

Under the presidential decree on “Awarding persons for outstanding contribution to the cause of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” award for 2012 was given to:

Tessa Hoffman (Germany) for in-depth study of the Armenian Genocide and pro-active social activity, as well as to the Zorian Institute for research into the history of the Armenian Genocide, publishing activities and notable contribution to the training of young professionals.

Under other decrees signed by the President of the Republic of Armenia, presidential awards for 2012 were assigned to:

Vanya BARSEGHYAN in the field of natural sciences for a series of research papers entitled “Dynamic systems management, browsing and conflict studies,”

Oleg GASPARYAN in the field of Computer Sciences and Information Technologies for a series of monographs entitled “Multidimensional theory of automatic control systems,”

Hakob HAKOBYAN (posthumously) in the field of art for his “Garden of Love” paintings series and Heinrich ELIBEKYAN for “Lifelong dialog” portraits series,

Ruben FANARJYAN, Arthur GRIGORYAN and Tigran KHACHATRYAN in the field of medicine for “Intravascular neurosurgery introduction and development in the Republic of Armenia” work,

Ashot CHILINGARYAN, Nicholas BOSTANJYAN, Gagik HOVSEPYAN, Bagrat MAYILYAN and Levon VANYAN in the field of physics for a series of research papers referred to as “High-energy phenomena in thunderous atmosphere,”

Henrik EDOYAN in the field of literature for the collection of poems, entitled “Stop, I am here.”

The presidential youth award for 2012 was offered to:

Gevorg GRIGORYAN in field of art for his “Untitled” series of paintings, and Sathenik SHATIRYAN for staging William Gibson’s “Two on the pendulum” novel,

The presidential classical music award for 2012 was offered to:

Mane GALOYAN, Hovhannes NERCESYAN and Arsen STEPANYAN for high-performance in “Singing Art” nomination,

Levon KARAPETYAN (piano) and Michael NAVASARDYAN (cello) for best performance in “Instrumental Performance” nomination