UCI Receives Historic Collection of Armenian Books in Honor of Seboo Hovanessian

Donation from Elma Hovanessian to honor her late husband and support the UCI Armenian Studies Program

IRVINE, Calif.””The University of California, Irvine has received nearly 600 Armenian-language and Armenian-related English books from community member Elma Hovanessian. Six decades in the making, the collection represents Hovanessian’s and her late husband’s love for literature, history and the Armenian language. Donated to the UCI Armenian Studies Program, the collection will be housed in the UCI Langson Library.

The collection spans a wide range of topics, from arts and architecture (including the Middle Ages, known as Armenia’s Golden Ages) to history, literature, theater, music, philosophy, politics and history of Armenia’s churches. The collection’s strength is in Armenian-related subjects but also boasts Armenian translations of classic global literature, including Homer’s “Iliad”