On October 22, the official opening of “Varduhi” art School built in Gyumri “Textile” neighborhood and initiated and sponsored by American-Armenian doctor Hovhannes Oyunjyan was launched in Gyumri. As we have informed, the school is named after the benefactor’s sister, Varduhi, who as described by Hovhannes Oyunjyan, “had given life to him.” Hovhannes Oyunjyan, born in Constantinople’s neighborhood Chilingar village, in the conversation with us told that he was 15 days from birth, when the neighboring Turks attacked the village by shooting into the air. Armenians left their house in panic forgetting the little Hovhannes in the cradle. The sister, Varduhi, remembering that her little brother is in the cradle, returned through these shooting, took the brother from the cradle and hugged him in a position that when shooting the Turkish bullet would him her and not her brother.
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94 – year-old doctor expressed his gratitude to her sister by building a hypermodern and luxurious art school equipped with all conveniences in the center of Gyumri. Here, according to Hovhannes Oyunjyan, people will learn ballet, European tango, music, sculpture, art history, theater, poetry and so on… The teachers financial costs will also be covered by the 94 – year-old benefactor. The art school named after his father and mother “Armenak and Elizabeth Oyunjyans school-college” will be free for the schoolchildren, and for the other children, the cost would be symbolic, a tiny amount, let’s say, 500 drams per month.
He benefactor admits that he is actually not tied to Gyumri, but married to this city. “I was not tied to Gyumri, but married, if Gyumri likes me, I will live in Gyumri, if not, I will devorce,” said Hovhannes Oyunjyan. He spends half a year in New York and half a year in Armenia, feeling better in the homeland. We asked the doctor whether the rumors in Gyumri are true that the benefactor had sold his house in Istanbul to build an art school in Armenia. He said, “No, it’s not true. My house in Istanbul was a wonderful house, I could sell it at a very high price, but I sold it at a very small amount and left. So, the amount I got it from here is nothing here, just a drop in the sea.”
And as to why the doctor did not want to keep the house in Istanbul, he says that it’s a secret. He informed that he is also planning to build a school of crafts, again another beautiful building, so that children would learn crafts. Note that the doctor is doing a charity in Gyumri for 16 years. He built the secondary school No. 21 in the “Textile” neighborhood in Gyumri naming it in honor of his parents “Armenak and Elizabeth Oyunjyanns school-college”. More than 50 children studying here receive ongoing scholarships, and he laso transfers the education fee for 100 students. The size of his investments in Gyumri amounts to up to 6 million dollars.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
