Vazken I
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His Holiness Vazgen / Vazken I Surpreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians |
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| Church | Armenian Apostolic Church |
| See | Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin |
| Installed | 1955 |
| Term ended | 1994 |
| Predecessor | George VI |
| Successor | Karekin I |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Levon Garabed Baljian |
| Born |
September 20, 1908 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died |
August 18, 1994 (aged 85) Etchmiadzin, Armenia |
| Buried | Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin |
Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest, (Armenian: Վազգէն Ա Բուխարեստցի), born Levon Garabed Baljian (Armenian: Լևոն Կարապետ Աբրահամի Պալճյան; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994) was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 years, the 4th longest reign in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
all served 39 years as Catholicos of All Armenians or Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, behind:
1) Nerses IV the Graceful (1166–1173) -- Սուրբ Ներսէս Դ. Կլայեցի (Շնորհալի), who served 53 years as Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
2) Constantine I of Cilicia (1221–1267) -- Կոնստանդին Ա. Բարձրբերդցի, who served 46 years as Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia and
3) St. Sahak I (387–428) -- Սբ. Սահակ Ա Պարթև, who served 41 years as Catholicos of All Armenians.
A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy. The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church hierarchy in Romania, he became Catholicos in 1955, moving to the Soviet Union and residing in the Armenian SSR. Vazgen I led the Armenian Church during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was the first Catholicos in newly independent Armenia.
Vazgen was born in Bucharest to a family belonging to the Armenian-Romanian community. His father was a shoemaker and his mother was a schoolteacher. The young Levon Baljian did not initially pursue the Church as a profession, instead graduating from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. After graduation, he became a philosopher and published a series of scholarly articles.
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