UNESCO to celebrate Anania Shirakatsi’s birth anniversary

Great Armenian scholar Anania Shirakatsi’s 1,400^th birthday has been included in the UNESCO eminent personalities’ anniversary list.

A prominent mathematician, astronomer and geographer, Shirakatsi was born in 612 AD. He was considered the founder of sciences in Armenia. As a talented medieval pundit, he left behind a huge heritage that largely contributed to the development of the natural sciences in Armneia. Shirakatsi died in 685 AD.
 

The Armenian Government has is planning different events devoted to the jubilee anniversary. A special committee composed of representatives from the Ministries of Culture, Education and Science, Foreign Affairs, and the National Academy of Sciences, has been set up upon Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s recommendation.
 

An international historico-astronomical symposium expected to shed light on Shirakatsi’s astronomic heritage, as well as the astronomic monuments in Armenia will be a key event on the agenda. The discussion, entitled Astronomic Heritage in National Culture, will take place in the Byurakan Observatory from September 24 to 28.
 

Additionally, the Observatory will host an international school of young astronomers between September 15 and 23. It is also planned to launch several publications and conduct studies into Armenia’s historico-astronomical on the occasion of the anniversary.