JIVAN TABIBIAN, 72, DIPLOMAT AND RENAISSANCE MAN
jivan-tabibian-72-diplomat-and-renaissance-man
Jul y 31, 2009
Yerevan – Jivan Tabibian, who had served for 10 years as Permanent
Representative of Armenia to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, died on July 31, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry
announced the same day.
Between 1998 and 2008, Mr. Tabibian also served as Permanent
Representative of Armenia to the International Atomic Energy
Association and other UN agencies in Vienna. He served as ambassador
to Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia from 1998
to 2006. He was awarded the rank of ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary in 1999. He retired from the Foreign Service last year.
"We were each very, very fortunate to have had Jivan as a
friend and colleague – and in my case as a permanent teacher,"
Salpi Ghazarian, director of the Civilitas Foundation, told the
Armenian Reporter. Mr. Tabibian served on the Honorary Board of the
foundation. "I would even say that the world, and especially our little
piece of it, has benefitted from his wisdom and goodness," she added.
Born in 1937 in Beirut, Mr. Tabibian graduated in 1959 from the
American University of Beirut, where he majored in politics. He was
also a graduate of Princeton University and the Sorbonne, where he
studied political sociology. From 1962 to 1971, he taught politics
and international relations at the Universities of North Carolina
and California, and urban planning at USC.
Mr. Tabibian thereafter served as a consultant to governments,
institutions and corporations in various countries, including
the United States, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Guatemala,
Venezuela, Canada, and Iran. He was on the boards of the International
Design Conference in Aspen, the Sundance Institute of Film and
Television, and the Corporate Board of the Grand Union Corporation
in New Jersey.