The idea of founding this institution has a history of 40 years. In the 1960s, Academician Levon Khachikian, then Director of the Matenadaran, Syrian Armenian writer and public figure Varuzhan Salatian, Armenian American writer Zaven Syurmelian, Egyptian Armenian writer Sarukhan and a group of armenologists from the Diaspora initiated the creation of the “Friends of Matenadaran” Benevolent Fund in order to support the Matenadaran projects aimed at the preservation and enrichment of its funds.
His Holiness Vazgen I, then Catholicos of all Armenians, cordially accepted the patronage of the Fund and French armenologist professor Frédéric Feydit undertook creating the Fund’s branch in France.
Due to various reasons, this great initiative did not turn into reality at that time. However, it still remained necessary to create such an organization.
After the declaration of the independence in Armenia, the social-economic situation deteriorated due to war, blockade and declining of economy. Again, it became urgent to create a structure which would support the Matenadaran.
The Matenadaran, known as Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a State institution financed by the national budget. However, means provided by the Government are only sufficient to preserve the funds and pay the salary of the scientific research staff. During the soviet era, the government used to provide the Matenadaran with the equivalent of 370,000 U.S. dollars per year in rubles. At present, the government only provides the equivalent of 80,000 U.S. dollars in AMD per year (approximately four and a half times less than before) to this important center of Armenian studies
The Matenadaran, which is a data base of ancient and medieval cultural values, is similar to a living organism and like all living organisms needs to be taken care of; neglecting of daily care may lead up to severe losses. This concerns the preservation of funds, care of manuscripts and other unsolved problems which can not wait for the rise of economy or the time when the Government will be able to care. Besides, the world scientific progress forces us to think about keeping pace with it. In order not to fall behind, it is necessary to stimulate scientific research and lead the way to international standards and methods of working.
The “Friends of Matenadaran” Benevolent Fund was created to this end. His Holiness Garegin II, Catholicos of all Armenians, has written the following in his Encyclical: “Continuing the work of our past philosophers, we must keep the Matenadaran as a sacred temple of soul and a dazzling academy of science and art. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says: “Wherever your treasures are, your hearts will be there”. Our treasures will continue to live; they will continue carrying out their mission as long as we are still here to look for our soul and essence in the ancient and meaningful pages of those treasures”.
