Rev. James Karnusian (1926 in Beirut, Lebanon – April 8, 1998 in Bern, Switzerland) was a Swiss- Armenian protestant pastor, writer and public activist.
A son of Armenian genocide survivors from Musa Ler, [1] Karnusian was born in 1926 in a camp of refugees in Beirut. [2] He studied at the universities of Greece and Switzerland. He then worked as a protestant pastor in Saanen. In 1979 he initiated the first Armenian World Congress in Paris. [3] In 1983 on the occasion of the 60th centenary of the Treaty of Lausanne, James Karnusian organized a Pan-Armenian convention in Lausanne attended by delegates from 17 countries. [4] "Our priority remains the recovery of Western Armenia occupied by Turkey," he explained. [5]
In 1992 he co-founded the Switzerland-Armenia Association (GSA - Gesellschaft Schweiz-Armenien) together with Hans Schellenberg, civil servant in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and former deputy of National Council of Switzerland Alexander Euler. [4]
He was allegedly one of the founders of Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia militant organization, [6] alongside Hagop Hagopian (real name Harutiun Tagushian) and Kevork Ajemian, a literary figure and publisher of the literary publication Spurk.
Rev. James Karnusian (1926 in Beirut, Lebanon – April 8, 1998 in Bern, Switzerland) was a Swiss- Armenian protestant pastor, writer and public activist.
A son of Armenian genocide survivors from Musa Ler, [1] Karnusian was born in 1926 in a camp of refugees in Beirut. [2] He studied at the universities of Greece and Switzerland. He then worked as a protestant pastor in Saanen. In 1979 he initiated the first Armenian World Congress in Paris. [3] In 1983 on the occasion of the 60th centenary of the Treaty of Lausanne, James Karnusian organized a Pan-Armenian convention in Lausanne attended by delegates from 17 countries. [4] "Our priority remains the recovery of Western Armenia occupied by Turkey," he explained. [5]
In 1992 he co-founded the Switzerland-Armenia Association (GSA - Gesellschaft Schweiz-Armenien) together with Hans Schellenberg, civil servant in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and former deputy of National Council of Switzerland Alexander Euler. [4]
He was allegedly one of the founders of Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia militant organization, [6] alongside Hagop Hagopian (real name Harutiun Tagushian) and Kevork Ajemian, a literary figure and publisher of the literary publication Spurk.