Vartges Bashian

Vartges Bashian Haigazi was born on July 10, 1942 in Tehran, Iran. His parents, Haigaz & Marinos Bashian were survivors of the Armenian Genocide who immigrated to Iran in early 1930s. He received his education at Kushes and then at Firooz Bahram High School.
In 1966 he met and married his wife Araks Amirian. They created a family which grew like a flower with the birth of their daughter Karineh. He was a cartographer by profession and his detailed and excellent work was recognized and appreciated by his colleagues.
From an early age his talent for art and theatre became apparent to everyone. He was in a committee which established the “Sipan” cultural organization. His career in the field of theatre began in 1960 when he accepted the role of ‘the teacher’ in the “Jakharaki Yerge” play. Critics soon welcomed the new talent into the world of Armenian theatre. Through his own hard work and talent he became one of the stars of the Iranian Armenian stage, giving life to more than 40 roles. All the roles were uniquely different yet Vartges was able to embody them and make them his own, taking his audience along with him on this journey.
From 1960 to 1983 he accepted roles in plays directed by Arousyak Tashtjian, Armen Mkrtoumian, as well as Toni Amatouni. The plays he participated in were “Namous”, “Vasake Bantoom”, “Khghji Khaite”, “Kendani Meryalner”, “Char Vogi” and so on. In 1980 he became a member of Ararat and joined their theatrical team. He began working with Gevorg Noubarian, Aramais Aghamalian, Roland Bold, Kitoush Arzouian, Misha Hayrabedian, and Grigori Amyan. He starred in several plays such as, “Avedoom”, “Ey, ov ka Aidegh”, “Mernile Vorkan Djvar e”, “Pepo”, “Karapi Yerge”, “ Kilikyo Arka”, “Votki Datarann e Galis”, “mets Lroutioun”, “Phisikosner”, “Jamboun Vra”, “Bel Boughi”, “Keri Vania”, “Hin Asdvatsner”. “Tsir Katin” in which he presented 5 different roles concurrently,…,“Gna Meri Ari Sirem” to name just a few. Aside from participating in the above mentioned plays, Vartges also directed and starred in “Bebeks” performed in 1989 and 1993. He was also scheduled to star in two Iranian films and was busy rehearsing for these roles.
One of the most well known plays he starred in was “Boomerang” and “Gna Meri Ari Sirem”. In these plays he once again worked with Lorik Minassian. His role as ‘Daron’ in “Gna Meri Ari Sirem” was one of his last roles before his untimely death on February 10th 1997. Vartges had an impact on many people including his family, friends and everyone who knew him. He was kind, humble, and always had a joke handy. Although Vartges is no longer with us, we are fortunate to have his humanness, kindheartedness as well as his body of work to remember him by.