Hambarsoom Grigorian was a composer and the founder and director of the “Komitas” choir. He was born in 1893 in Tabriz

Tabriz

Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. After graduating school in 1913, he was invited to teach at the Ghazvin Armenian School.

During World War I (1914–1918), he dedicated himself to help people. After the war, he moved to Salmas and Oroomieh and assisted survivors of the Armenian Genocide. In 1923, he and a group of young Armenians were invited to Prague’s National University where he became interested in the Rimsky Korsakov School and continued his education there. After six months, he moved to Paris, France where from 1924–1927, he was taught under Venesandi at the Schola Cantorum

Schola Cantorum

The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private music school in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera...

. He also attended Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 University where he graduated with a degree in child development and psychology.

In 1927, he moved to Rasht and taught in an Armenian school. Later, he moved to Tehran and continued his dedication to school and people. He was one of the founders of the Alik

Alik

Alik is an Armenian daily newspaper based in Tehran, Iran. It was founded in March 1931. Alik was initially a weekly, and beginning 1935 it started publishing once every two two days. In 1941 it became a daily and has been published continuously...

Daily Newspaper, in Tehran, which continues its daily publications till today.

He established the Komitas choir in 1928, where without interruption it actively dedicated itself to Armenian culture in Iranian cities. The choir selected “Hayrenyaz Sirov” (Love for Country) as the song that represented it.

Music

Hambarsoom Grigorian composed more than 200 songs. He converted Iran’s National Song, written by Amir Jahedi, to choral and presented in front of Reza Shah for his birthday ceremony. Later, he was awarded the Hamayoon Medal by the king. In 1969, Tehran cultural groups celebrated Grigorian’s 55th work anniversary and Komitas’ 40th anniversary. In 1973, Kilikiya Soorb Mesrob awarded him the Mashtos medal for his active role in the Armenian culture.

He died on July 28, 1975 in Tehran.