What Issues Were There Regarding the Composer's Burial Site? Details from the City Hall

Yesterday, those gathered in the yard of the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall bid farewell with applause to the People's Artist of Armenia, founder and artistic director of the Armenian State Song Theatre, composer Arthur Grigoryan. Earlier, the media reported that there were issues and disputes surrounding the burial of the renowned composer.

In an interview with Auroranews, representatives from the press service of the Yerevan City Hall provided details on the matter. “The issue was as follows: the area where there was a desire to bury the great composer is considered a green zone, the adjacent area is well-maintained and aesthetically unsuitable for a burial. Taking into account Arthur Grigoryan's significant contribution and weighty role in the field of Armenian culture, the community naturally allocated space in the city Pantheon, where he was buried,” the department mentioned.

The city hall indicated that there is no point in unnecessarily politicizing the issue. “The names being circulated have nothing to do with this at all.”

It should be reminded that Armlur.am noted that in the city pantheon, where mainly the remains of intellectuals are interred, there is a section that has an ‘owner’. According to the publication, this person is related to the Hayrapetyan brothers (the father-in-law of MP Hayk Sargsyan), who prohibited burying Arthur Grigoryan next to the widow of Karen Demirchyan, Rima Demirchyan, claiming that this green area belongs to them and that no one can be buried in that section of the pantheon, regardless of whether the deceased is a distinguished figure in the arts of the Republic of Armenia, a People's Artist, or anyone else.