Maria and Beatrice Ghrdian, Armenians from Boston, have together with the administration of Yerevan’s Matenadaran Museum-Institute established the “Mashtots” fund for protection and development of Armenian culture.

Matenadaran director Hrachya Tamrazyan and the fund co-chairs Maria and Beatrice Ghrdian signed an agreement on the establishment of a fund, which will support Matendaran’s young scientists, including Ph.D candidates and external doctorate students, as reported to Armenian News – NEWS.am by Matenadaran’s International Relations Division.

“Matenadaran was like home away from home to us. We are glad to see the participation of young scholars in our work. We highly appreciate the work carried out by you and we wish from the bottom of our heart that the fund serves the programs aimed at the replenishment of knowledge and skills of young scholars,” Beatrice Ghrdian said.

Maria and Beatrice Ghrdian donated to Matenadaran the wonderful collection of printed books and manuscripts belonging to their family (5 manuscripts, including a 17th-century Bible and four Arab manuscripts, as well as 144 ancient books mainly of the 17th-18th centuries). They also donated two Armenian carpets of historical and cultural value.

The sisters donated the gifts in memory of their prematurely deceased brother, doctor Rouben Ghrdian.