Participants of the International Conference on Fridtjof Nansen Visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
05.11.2025
On November 5, His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the Department of External Relations and Protocol of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, received at the Mother See the participants of the international conference “100 Years Later: In the Footsteps of Fridtjof Nansen,” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the visit of Fridtjof Nansen and his commission to Armenia.
Introducing the guests, Mr. Zhora Hakobyan, Director of the Fridtjof Nansen Museum in Yerevan, provided His Grace with an overview of the conference proceedings and their recorded outcomes.
Archbishop Nathan welcomed the initiative to hold the conference and conveyed to the attendees the Patriarchal blessing and best wishes of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
Reflecting on the humanitarian mission of Fridtjof Nansen, a great friend of the Armenian people, the Archbishop highlighted his invaluable contribution to the support and care of Armenian refugees and orphaned children who survived the Genocide. He sorrowfully noted that a century after Nansen, history has tragically repeated itself — the Armenians of Artsakh have once again been forcibly displaced and deprived of their homeland.
Archbishop Nathan emphasized that in the face of these trials, the spirit of Nansen, as a testimony to human conscience and an example of humanity and justice, remains today a moral guide, calling us to remain steadfast on the path of love, compassion, and truth.
