This is a great loss for the Armenian nation and culture. Yervand Manaryan was a brilliant individual and one of the exceptional Armenian artists who also had a stance as a citizen. This is what actor Tigran Nersisyan told reporters during the Requiem Service for People’s Artist of the Republic of Armenia, actor Yervand Manaryan at St. Hovhannes Church in Yerevan today.

“I would set aside Manaryan as a person who had the ability to reach out to everyone and understand them. Manaryan was loved by the people,” Tigran Nersisyan said.

Merited Art Figure of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Stepanyan told reporters that he can’t compare Manaryan with anyone. “The artists of his generation were individualities and unlike others. They could create their own and were recognized by their work. It’s sad to see that such people are passing away, but we also feel pride that there were such people and there was an opportunity to interact and work with them,” he said.

Among the attendees of the Requiem Service were Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan, Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan, MPs and government officials, intellectuals, cultural figures and fans of the people’s artist.

Manaryan died on February 20. He was 95 years old.