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On May 20, the Central Bank of Armenia is putting into circulation “100th Anniversary of Charles Aznavour’s Birth” gold collector coin.

Charles Aznavour (1924–2018) was a prominent French-Armenian singer, songwriter, film actor, writer, and public figure.

Aznavour was born in Paris to an Armenian immigrant family that escaped the Armenian Genocide.

From a young age he had a strong interest in art. He began his professional career in the 1940s. In 1956 he gained universal recognition after performing at the Olympia concert hall in Paris.

During his musical career, Aznavour wrote and co-wrote more than 1000 songs, including “La mamma”, “La Bohème”, “Hier encore” (“Yesterday, When I Was Young”), “Sa jeunesse” (“The Wine оf Youth”), “She”, “Les Deux Guitares” (“Two guitars”), “Une vie d’amour”, “Ave Maria,” and others, and recorded close to 1400 songs in various languages. Among the songs dedicated to Armenia are “Pour toi Arménie” (“For You, Armenia”), “Ils sont tombés” (“They Fell”), “Tendre Arménie” (Tender Armenia).

Aznavour appeared in more than 90 films and has authored a number of books.

After the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, Aznavour founded the Aznavour for Armenia association, and, in 2016, together with his son Nicolas Aznavour, created the Aznavour Foundation with the goal of implementing educational, social, and cultural programs.

He has received numerous state awards and titles, including the French Legion of Honor (knight, officer, and commander ranks), a designation of National Hero of Armenia and the Order of Motherland. Beginning in 2009, Aznavour served as Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland and as Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva.

Aznavour’s work is a unique interweaving of poetry, music, and acting. Around 200 million Aznavour CDs have been sold to date.

One of Yerevan’s squares is named after Aznavour, and a monument to him has been erected in Gyumri.

Obverse: monument to Charles Aznavour in Gyumri (sculptor: S. Petrosyan, architect: A. Tarkhanyan, 2002).

Reverse: portrait of Charles Aznavour, the number 100 in the form of stylized musical notes, piano keys and microphone.

Designers: Vardan Vardanyan (obverse), Karen Melikyan (reverse).

The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.