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Lalai Manjikian

Lalai Manjikian

Dr. Lalai Manjikian is a humanities professor at Vanier College in Montreal. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of immigration and refugee studies, media representations of migration, migrant narratives and diaspora studies. She is the author of Collective Memory and Home in the Diaspora: The Armenian Community in Montreal (2008). Lalai’s articles have been published in a number of newspapers and journals including The Armenian Weekly, Horizon Weekly, 100 Lives (The Aurora Prize), the Montreal Gazette, and Refuge. A former Birthright Armenia participant (2005), over the years, Lalai has been active in volunteering both within the Armenian community in Montreal and the local community at large, namely engaged in immigrant and refugee integration. She previously served as a qualitative researcher on the Armenian Diaspora Survey in Montreal. Lalai also serves as a board member for the Foundation for Genocide Education. She holds a PhD in Communication Studies from McGill University (2013).

19 Comments

  1. Wonderful article!  It reminded me of my grandfather who lived to be 96 years old.  He was from the Hussineg (Kharpert province).  Those old timers experienced so much during their life and persevered despite the odds against them.  I sure do miss my grandpa.

  2. A part of us always stays in the circle.. Your grandmother is still alive in you Lalai, please keep that part.. that is the most precious legacy one can have!

  3.     An incredible life and an inspiring story. Your column reminds many of us of the special relationship we all had with our grandparents from the survivor generation. We are sorry for your loss. Your celebration of her life is a great tribute. My grandmother was from Adana and also had to leave for a period of time to Egypt during the Adana massacres in 1909. Thank you for sharing the life of your dear grandmother.

  4. Dear Lala,
    I am very sad for your grandma’s passing. My dear condolences for all mwmbers of the great Yaralian and Manjikian families. I have met your gradma, the lovely and honest Kalil Nene. Her deportation story is typical for Kessabtzi Armenians, more detailed in the books of my teacher and friend, the Kaladourantzi Hagop Tcholakian. I wish you publish the whole and detailed  story of Kalil Nene deportation as a historical evidence of the Armenian Genocide.
    One essential remark: never use the term . For the true Armenian there is no such thing. All of us must use the term . We bury our Hay Tad if we begin using Turkish terms! Try to not use also the term . All our Homeland, the Arenian Highland or merely , has not changed and can never be changed to a lost reality. It exists eternally!

    Kevork Yazedjian (M. S. Technical Sciences, PhD. History, owner of cafeteria in Kessab in 1994-2008 

  5. Great story Lalai and a story to be proud of.  You always do a good job on everything
    you write.  Your grandma seems to be  a great woman and I am sure you will follow
    her in her footsteps health and happiness and long life.

  6. Lalai, I was so happy to see the picture of you with your grandmother in the Weekly. I recognized her immediately as the beautiful “Kiougheen Nenen” whom I had the good fortune to meet when I, my husband and my sister visited Karadouran with my Kessabtzi father, Aram, in summer of 2010. I wouldn’t be surprised if your Neneh knew mine and my grandfather, who were both Kessabzis. Our families go back for years. On our visit, your Nene greeted us with a huge warm smile, standing to greet us and then again to bid us farewell. She was beautiful, strong, and an inspiration to us all. I am saddened to hear about her passing. God blessed her and you are keeping her alive in your words. Gyanke kezee.

  7. It’s an interesting and hard life she had. You are lucky to have known and enjoyed her, shared her experiment. Grandmothers are special persons above all armenian ones who had lived this special period of our history, the beginning of the 20th century. I knew my grandparents for a short time and as child we are not aware of our history, their lives to ask them lot of questions … Write a book to tell their story.

  8. C’est avec vive intérêt que j’ai lu l’histoire de ta grand-mère qui ressemble un peu à celle de mon père. Lui était né en 1904 à Adana survécu à plusieurs massacres, mais orphelin à Port Said il doit avoir rencontré ta grand-mère. Il avait écrit sa vie mais après être installé au Liban mais vers la fin de sa vie il nous racontait ce qu’ils avaient enduré pendant les massacres et leur marche vers les déserts de la Jordanie, les maladies, les malheurs, l’orphelinat. 

    Sossy Piloyan 

  9. I enjoyed your article, Lalai. I fell in love with Kessab since my first Boy Scout retreat there in the Summer of 1969. A short and mountainous drive from Aleppo, Syria. Almost every Armenian from Aleppo has a story to tell of Kessab and “Kaladoura”. Summer travelers pour in during “Khaghogh Orshnerk” at “Asdvadzadzin” weekend. And then there is the “Herrissa” night. Who can forget Kessabs’ evergreen mountain tops, rounding up-hill down-hill roads, fresh spring water, juicy green Apples, foggy mornings and clean air. All the power to Armenian families schools and churches which are still thriving there even with the current circumstances. I happen to know few Kessabtsy’s; I cherish their friendship and our sweet memories. I hope to visit Kessab at my next travel to Syria. Although I never knew your Grandmother, but I can surely relate to her love and bonding to the her birthplace. God bless Her soul.

  10. Nice story Lalai… I am also Kessabtzi, a decent of the Armenian Genocide survivors who immigrated to Armenia. My late grandma, Hripsime was aslo born in 1907, in Kessab. This is such a close to me story- my grandma and grandpa had been telling me so many things about IT…
    My Daddy was 10 when the family took the root to Armenia and started a new life, with all its hardships… but we, the young generation, do cherish each piece of these memories , speak Kessbynyk when reuniting- and I hope one day I will be able to go and visit my ancestral Homeland and Our house…

  11. Hi Lalai ,gyanke kezi yev sirelinerout .i enjoyed your article very very much ,i can surley relate to your story  as my grandparents were from Mousa Dagh, and they always spoke about their stories and memories.God bless her soul.

  12. Dear Lalai,
    What a great article. My condolences for your beloved grandmother. Your article was very emotional for me, since it brought so many memories. My grandfather Reverend Boghos Tutunjian and my grandmother Mariam moved to Karadouran after the Marash massacres of 1923. My late father was born in Karadouran the same year your grandparents were married on 1927. He was a toddler when he left the area, but always remembered it with great joy and I have heard such wonderful stories from my grandmother about the city, she loved the grape vineyards and hillsides. My grandmother passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 100 also, with ever clear mind and wonderful attitude towards life. So much to learn from our true treasures….. 
    Thanks for sharing your articles.
    Lydia Tutunjian

  13. Dear Lalai,

    My heartfelt condolences for the loss of your dear grandmother. And my congratulations for your wonderful article. It is with the strong ties like those between you and your grandmother that our nation will survive and progress with the evolution of time.
    Kessab, Karadouran and Musa Dagh are neighbours. They are also regions that had and still have special meanings for us, regarding human and national values. I am sure you will transmit those values to the members of your newly formed family. I wish you all the best in your life and in your future.
    With warm regards,

    Vazken Der Kaloustian

  14. Kalila Yaralian Manjikian gella in medz hores amoyin aghchige (mamayis goghmen)Serop yaralianin amoyin aghchige yerp kalelov tbrots gertayink amen angam vor indzi deser mamayis yev babougis parev ge gherger 1995 yedk amen angam vor ir kov yertayi amen dzenokhkis antamneroon anoonnerov meg meg ge hartsener irents vorbesoutyoune ,Asdvadz hokin lousavore chegerknevelik antser ,hima yte vokhch ellar Kesabi yerort gakhte bidi abrer (Kesabtsineroon jagadagir ):

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