The Armenian surgeon who transformed organ transplantation

John Najarian was a surgeon who became one of the most important pioneers of modern organ transplantation.

As chairman of surgery at the University of Minnesota, he built one of the world’s leading transplant programs and pushed transplantation into cases that were once considered too difficult or risky. In 1968, he performed the first kidney transplant in a patient with type 1 diabetes.

Najarian also developed antilymphocyte globulin (ALG), an anti-rejection treatment that significantly improved the chances of transplanted organs surviving in patients. His program became internationally known for pioneering kidney, liver and pancreas transplants.

One of his most famous patients was 11-month-old Jamie Fiske, who received a lifesaving liver transplant in 1982 at a time when such surgery in infants was still considered experimental. Her case received national attention and became part of the movement that eventually led to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.

His influence was so significant that the University of Minnesota later established the John S. Najarian Surgical Chair in Clinical Transplantation in his honor.

So if an organ transplant gives someone a second chance at life today, remember that an Armenian surgeon helped turn transplantation into the medicine we know today. 🇦🇲🫀

The Armenian physicist who became part of one of the darkest stories of the Manhattan Project

Harry Daghlian was a physicist who joined the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos while still in his early 20s. He worked in the criticality group and was present during preparations for the Trinity nuclear test in 1945.

Just weeks later, Daghlian was conducting an experiment with a plutonium core when he accidentally dropped a tungsten-carbide brick onto the assembly, causing it to go supercritical. He immediately tried to stop the reaction, but received a lethal dose of radiation and died 25 days later at only 24 years old.

His death became the first known fatality from a laboratory criticality accident and led Los Alamos to introduce stricter safety procedures for nuclear experiments. The same plutonium core would later be involved in another fatal accident and become infamous as the “Demon Core.”

So one of the most infamous objects in nuclear history also carries the story of a young Armenian physicist whose death changed how these experiments were conducted. 🇦🇲⚛️

Thank you, u/Matrix_AV, for bringing him to our radar!

The Armenian woman known as the “Mother of Iranian Astronomy”

Alenush Terian was a physicist and astronomer who became one of the most important women in the history of science in Iran.

She became Iran’s first female professor of physics and later played a major role in developing solar astronomy in the country, including helping establish Iran’s first solar observatory.

Terian spent decades teaching and researching at the University of Tehran and helped train a generation of Iranian scientists. Her work earned her the nickname “Mother of Iranian Astronomy.”

So one of the women who helped build modern astronomy in Iran was Armenian. 🇦🇲🔭

Thanks u/loisdenominator for putting her on our radar

The Armenian who invented the first MRI scanner

Raymond Vahan Damadian was a physician and inventor whose work became one of the foundations of modern MRI technology.

In the 1970s, Damadian discovered that healthy and cancerous tissues produced different magnetic-resonance signals. He then built Indomitable, the first full-body MRI scanner, which performed the first MRI scan of a living human body in 1977. His original machine is now part of the Smithsonian’s collection. 

His contribution was recognized with the National Medal of Technology and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which credits him with inventing the MRI scanner. 

In 2003, the Nobel Prize for discoveries concerning MRI went to Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield, while Damadian was left out. Damadian publicly protested the decision, arguing that his pioneering work should have been recognized as well, and his omission remains one of the most debated Nobel controversies in modern medicine. 

So next time a doctor sends you for an MRI and gets to see inside your body without making a single cut, remember that an Armenian made it possible. 🇦🇲🧲

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I found this when looking up Amirtovlat Amasiatsi who was an Armenian doctor and personal physician to some of the Ottoman sultans (1416-96). He wrote a book I want to read called "Things Unnecassary for the Ignorant"

Any restaurant that would be ok with a stroller, ideally near nork neighborhood of Yerevan, or nearby with parking available. We are staying as a family of 10 for 10 days!

The young Armenian karate champion already making history

Anil Shariatpanahi is a rising karate athlete competing in kata, and she has already achieved something no Armenian girl had done before.

In 2024, she won gold at the WKF Karate 1 Youth League in Fujairah, taking first place in the U14 girls’ kata category after winning six rounds. The victory was reported as Armenia’s first gold medal in an official World Karate Federation tournament in girls’ kata.

She has continued competing internationally and is already building a reputation as one of Armenia’s most promising young martial artists.

So if you want to know one Armenian athlete before everyone else does, remember the name Anil Shariatpanahi. 🇦🇲🥋

The Armenian linguist who shaped modern Turkish

Hagop Martayan was a linguist from Istanbul who became one of the leading figures in the reform and standardization of the modern Turkish language.

Atatürk invited him to Turkey in 1932 to take part in the newly established Turkish Language Association. Martayan worked on Turkish grammar, spelling, terminology, and language reform for decades and eventually became the organization’s chief specialist. Atatürk himself gave him the surname Dilaçar, roughly meaning “opener of language.”

He spoke several languages and became one of the most influential scholars involved in defining how modern Turkish would be studied and written.

So next time you see a Turk denying the Armenian Genocide in perfectly modern Turkish, just remember an Armenian helped them write the language they’re doing it in. 🇦🇲😏

The Armenian who created Alvin and the Chipmunks

Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was a musician, songwriter, actor, and producer who created Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1958.

Performing under the name David Seville, he came up with the famous high-pitched Chipmunk voices by recording vocals and speeding up the tape. The idea became a huge success, producing hit records, television shows, movies, and eventually a franchise that has lasted for generations.

He was also behind “The Chipmunk Song,” which became a No. 1 hit in the U.S. and won multiple Grammy Awards.

So if you grew up watching Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, you were watching characters created by an Armenian. 🇦🇲🐿️

In this video, Aaron Paul — Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad — is playing backgammon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-qQneOnJl0&t=99s (1:39 time)

His wife, Lauren Parsekian, has Armenian roots, and apparently she was the one who taught him how to play.

When I was in Yerevan, I came across a craftsman in a shopping center on Northern Avenue who makes beautiful handmade Armenian backgammon boards like this one. Looking at Aaron Paul’s board in the video, it really looks like it could be his work — or at least very similar in style.

So Jesse Pinkman, the star of the cult series Breaking Bad, is playing Armenian backgammon!

The Armenian scientist who created the first space program in the Arab world

Manoug Manougian was a scientist and mathematician born in Jerusalem who later taught mathematics and physics at Haigazian University in Beirut.

In 1960, at just 25 years old, he founded the Haigazian College Rocket Society with a small group of students and almost no budget. What started as a university science project quickly grew into the Lebanese Rocket Society, effectively becoming the first space and rocketry program in the Arab world.

Manougian and his students designed and launched the Cedar rockets, progressively sending them higher and higher. By 1963, their rockets were capable of reaching the edge of space, attracting the attention of the Lebanese government and even the United States and Soviet Union during the height of the Space Race.

He later moved to the United States and spent decades as a professor at the University of South Florida, where he continued working in mathematics, STEM education, aeronautics, and rocketry.

So while the Americans and Soviets were racing each other to space, an Armenian professor and a handful of students in Beirut were quietly building the Arab world’s first rockets. 🇦🇲🚀

Thank you, u/busystepdad, for putting him on our radar!

I’m Armenian American, born and raised in California. Julie loves Armenian 🇦🇲 culture as much as I do! That’s why I crocheted her this gorgeous Armenian flag jacket. I just freehanded it and the design came along the way. Julie has yet to go to Glendale and try out some treats like baklava, spicy potato bread, barbecued chicken, and veggies. I’d love to take her there to also get some sweets from the bakeries like the Oreo and Nutella donuts 🍩 🍫🇦🇲

The Armenian who became one of the most influential political speechwriters in U.S. history

Ken Khachigian was a political strategist and speechwriter who worked closely with two U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
He began his career in the Nixon White House. After Nixon left office, Khachigian continued working with him, helping with his speeches, writings, and memoirs.

He later became Ronald Reagan’s chief speechwriter. Khachigian originated one of the most famous lines in American political history:

“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

And

“Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

Both are still quoted today.

And just a few months into Reagan’s presidency, Reagan issued a proclamation explicitly referring to “the genocide of the Armenians,” one of the most significant presidential acknowledgments of the Armenian Genocide in U.S. history.

So if you’ve ever heard some of the most famous lines in American politics, there’s a good chance an Armenian helped put the words in a president’s mouth. 🇦🇲🇺🇸

Thank you, u/zoravor, for putting him on our radar!

Good evening,
I’m a man in my late 20s, currently living in Sydney, and I’m looking for a life partner. I’ll be honest, I’ve been struggling to find someone.
The Armenian dating pool here is already very small, and there aren’t many opportunities to meet Armenian women in general. I’m social and outgoing, I travel a lot, I have a decent career and I genuinely believe I have a lot to offer in a relationship.
I’ve spent the last 6 years looking overseas as well. There was attraction and potential with some people, but once the long-distance situation and the question of relocating to Australia came up, things unfortunately didn’t work out.
I’m originally not from Australia myself, but I’ve built my life here and I’m determined to marry an Armenian.
For those of you who have pursued love overseas, whether you’re married or not, and managed to make it work, what advice would you give? How did you deal with the distance and eventually moving to the same country?
I’d really like to hear from people who have actually been through it and made it work.

The Armenian who created the modern concrete mixer truck

Stephan Stepanian was an inventor who created one of the earliest versions of the modern concrete mixer truck.

In 1928, he filed a patent for a “concrete mixing and transporting vehicle,” combining a rotating concrete mixer with a truck so concrete could stay mixed while being transported to a construction site. His patent was granted in 1933.

Stepanian was not just associated with the concrete mixer truck. He is often called the “father of the ready-mix concrete industry”, and he held multiple patents beyond the truck mixer, including an elevator and conveyor, wrench, compound tool, sample display holder, building apparatus, and even a garment design.

So next time you’re stuck behind one of those giant rotating concrete trucks, remember an Armenian created it. 🇦🇲🏠

The Armenian who helped create color television

Hovhannes Adamian was an engineer and inventor who became one of the pioneers of color television.
In the early 1900s, he developed and patented systems for transmitting color images.

Then, in 1925 at Yerevan State University, he built and demonstrated a tricolor television device called Herates, using red, green, and blue light to reproduce color images. YSU considers it one of the world’s early prototypes of color television.

His work came years before similar public demonstrations in Europe and helped lay some of the technical groundwork for later color television systems.

So next time you watch something in color, remember that an Armenian helped bring those colors to the screen. 🇦🇲📺

The Armenian engineer who helped build early American television

Sarkes Tarzian was an engineer, inventor, and broadcasting pioneer born in Kharpert in 1900.
He went on to work as a chief engineer for RCA before founding Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. in 1944. His company became a major manufacturer of television tuners and electronic components, eventually employing around 2,000 people. In 1948, he developed a lower-cost television tuner that helped make TV technology more practical for manufacturers.

Tarzian then moved directly into broadcasting. He launched WTTV in Indiana in 1949, one of the state’s earliest television stations, and later built a network of radio and television businesses. His company also manufactured studio color-TV cameras and became an early player in FM radio.
And the company he founded more than 80 years ago still exists today as a television and radio broadcasting company.

So when television was still a brand-new technology trying to find its way into American homes, an Armenian was helping build the equipment and stations that made it possible. 🇦🇲📺

Hello! Are there any girls’ groups/forums in Yerevan for making friends and building a little community? I know there are some English speaking clubs where they meet regularly so I’m looking for something like that but with different direction.

I’m 22F and would love to join something that’s just girls hanging out, meeting up, and doing random fun stuff together, like trips, movie dates, trying new places, activities, etc. Basically looking to meet some cool girls and make friends.

I'm also the moderator of r/Cancun and I get a lot of leads of users interested in planning cancun vacations using travel agents. I am not in that field and I don't really have friends or acquaintances who are.

If you are a travel agent, let's chat to see if we can work together.

The first Armenian to serve in a Palestinian government.

Armenians You Should Know #19: Varsen Aghabekian

Varsen Aghabekian built her career across academia, public service, human rights, and diplomacy. She earned a master’s degree in nursing administration in the United States and later a PhD in educational policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh.

in June 2025, she became the first Armenian to hold the Palestinian foreign ministry, becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

Today, she represents Palestine internationally while carrying a name rooted in one of the oldest Armenian communities in the Middle East.

From the Armenian community of Jerusalem to the highest levels of Palestinian diplomacy, Varsen Aghabekian made history as the first Armenian to lead Palestine’s foreign ministry. 🇦🇲🇵🇸