World-renowned French-Armenian singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat Charles Aznavour became 88 years old on Monday.

Aznavour—whose real name is Shahnour Vaghenag Aznavourian—was born in Paris on May 22, 1924 to a family of Armenian immigrants.  

He has thousands of songs under his name and, according to the surveys conducted by Time magazine and CNN, Charles Aznavour is the best performer of popular songs in the 20th Century.  

The renowned Armenian also greatly contributed to the reconstruction of Armenian cities which were devastated in the 1988 earthquake.   

In 2008, Aznavour became a citizen of Armenia.

In 2009, he was appointed Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.

At present, Charles Aznavour lives and works in Switzerland, but he still considers himself Armenian and French.