On 4 June 2014, the director of the National Library of Armenia, Tigran Zargaryan, and his wife were received by the management of the Library of the Faculty of Arts during an official visit co-organized by the National Library of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia. Other members of the delegation were Nouneh Zastoukhova, wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, Hakob Asatryan, editor-in-chief of Orer, an Armenian-Czech magazine headquartered in Prague, and Haig Utidjian, a conductor of Armenian origin, currently in a Ph.D. programme at the CU FA. The National Library of the Czech Republic was represented by the director for international relations, Adolf Knoll. The Faculty of Arts was represented by the Dean, doc. Mirjam Friedová, Vice-Dean for Information Resources, Martin Souček, Director of the Library of the Faculty of Arts, Klára Rösslerová, and Head of the Jan Palach Library, Jan Kamenický.
The CU FA offered instruction of the Armenian language, with several interruptions, until recently, at the Department of Linguistics, and negotiations are currently under way to reintroduce the programme. The stock of the CU FA Library contains books translated from Armenian as well as an impressive number of books written in that language; for the past year, these books have been transferred to the Jan Palach Library. Some of the acquisitions date back to the days when Ludmila Motalová, a prominent Czech translator and expert on Armenian language and literature, taught at the Faculty; some of the books contain a personal inscription by Armenian writers and poets. Another major portion of the stock was accumulated by Václav A. Černý, a translator and the most prominent Czech expert on the Caucasus, at the Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies. The books are gradually processed in co-operation with the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, which provides the necessary assistance in transcribing the Armenian alphabet into the Latin alphabet and in producing the catalogues of content; the other major partner, the National Library of the Czech Republic, is preparing updated tables for the transcription of non-Latin alphabets. This will provide the Jan Palach Library with a coherent stock of Armenian literature, accessible to future students of Armenian as well as members of the academic community.
PhDr. Klára Rösslerová, Director, CU FA Library
Mgr. Jan Kamenický, Head, Jan Palach Library
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- Jan Kamenický explaining about books owned by the Library to the Director of the National Library of Armenia, Tigran Zargaryan
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- A tour of the book depository of the Jan Palach Library
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- A tour of the book depository for the Armenian guests was prepared by Klára Rösslerová, Director of the CU FA Library, and Jan Kamenický, Head of the Jan Palach Library
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- CU FA Dean, doc. Mirjam Friedová (pictured left) and Nouneh Zastoukhova, wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia
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- Guests included Martin Souček, Vice-Dean for Information Resources
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- Hakob Asatryan (pictured left) , editor-in-chief of Orer, an Armenian-Czech magazine headquartered in Prague, presenting a book gift to Jan Kamenický, Head of the Jan Palach Library
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- Director of the National Library of Armenia, Tigran Zargaryan, his wife, and the Faculty Dean doc. Mirjam Friedová (pictured left)
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- Director of the National Library of Armenia, Tigran Zargaryan, his wife, and Marta Mezhlumyan, who assists the Jan Palach Library in transcribing the Armenian alphabet into the Latin alphabet, pictured inspecting Armenian books owned by the Jan Palach Library
Photo: CU FA Archive
