YERVAND LALAYAN (1864-1931)

ethnographer, archeologist and folklorist

founding director of the Museum (1919-1928)

 In 1921-1922, owing to the efforts of Yervand Lalayan, the Armenological library and archeological-ethnographical collection (2500 objects) of the Museum of the Armenian Ethnographic Society in Tiflis was transferred to Yerevan. The collection became a basis for the History Museum of Armenia, marked its actul birth , and predestined its activities and future course.

TOROS TORAMANIAN (1864-1934)

the founder of scholarly studies on Armenian architecture

head of the Architectural Department of the Museum (1930-1934)

 The collaction of glass plates, formed owing to Toros Toramanian, is invaluable in the founding collection of the History Museum of Armenia. On his initiative, 12 000 glass plates, which are undeniable records of the Armenian land, culture and art, were brought to the Museum.

YERVAND SHAHAZIZ (1856-1951)

 philologist, Armenologist, historian, ethnographer and pedagogue

head of the Historical-Literary Department at the Museum (1922-1931)

In 1922, owing to the efforts of Y. Shahaziz, unique archeological and ethnographic objects were transferred to Yerevan: crosses, lecterns, lapidary inscriptions, old manuscripts, also archives, letters, documents and photographs of mainly Armenian writers, and materials on the history, literary and public life of Nor Nakhijevan, which comprised the basis of the Historical-Literary Department of the Museum.

ASHKHARBEK KALANTAR (1884-1942)

Armenologist, archeologist and historian

In 1918, in the turmoil of war, on the initiative and with the efforts of Ashkharbek Kalantar, rescuing of the collections of the Museum of Antiquities of Ani was organized. The transportation of the collections was held up in the station of Sanahin. Only in 1926, they were transported to the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan, becoming inseparable part of the founding collection, a factual guarantee of our history and culture.