This time, the initiative took shape at an exclusive Mastercard year-end 2025 event, where a charity auction was held and all proceeds went to foundations selected by the auction participants.
During
the auction, AraratBank acquired a rare copy of Zabel Boyajian's "Armenian
Legends and Poems," published in 1916 in New York. Printed over a century
ago with the author's own original illustrations and featuring dozens of
translations, the book holds value not only as a collection of works
representing national heritage, but also as a set of values that reflects Armenian
identity and passes it on to future generations.
At AraratBank’s initiative, the proceeds generated through the purchase of the prominent Armenian author’s book were donated to the “City of Smile” Charitable Foundation, contributing meaningfully to the recovery and treatment of its beneficiaries.
Zabel
Boyajian was born in 1872 in Diyarbakir. Her father, Tovmas Boyajian, served as
the British Vice-Consul in the Ottoman Empire, and her mother, Catherine Rogers
Boyajian, of English origin, was fluent in Armenian. Following her father's
murder during the Hamidian massacres, Zabel moved with her family to London in
1895, where she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. She went on to become
an accomplished painter, writer, and translator.
AraratBank
is regulated by the Central Bank of Armenia.
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