Founded in 2007 by Denver-based researcher and human rights advocate Simon Maghakyan, the Djulfa Virtual Memorial and Museum – Djulfa.com partners with institutional and individual cultural rights defenders across the world to document, publicize, and pursue accountability for the intentional destruction of the largest medieval Armenian cemetery at Djulfa, originally called Jugha and often transliterated as Julfa or Culfa, as well as other monuments of the earliest Christian civilization in the Azerbaijan Republic’s formerly-Armenian exclave of Nakhichevan, today known as Naxçıvan. The original content of Djulfa.com has been used by rights organizations (American Association for the Advancement of Science; Global Heritage Fund), concerned governments (Republic of Armenia Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Holy See/Vatican), and media outlets (France 2 Television).

Advisory Board:

  • Steinar Gil: Norwegian diplomat and philologist; Ambassador to Azerbaijan at the time of Djulfa’s destruction
  • Dr. Dickran Kouymjian: Haig & Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian History and Art, Emeritus, Director of Armenian Studies Program, Emeritus,  California State University, Fresno.  Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia
  • Jora Manoucherian: President of Research on Armenian Architecture – USA
  • Dr. Ian McIntosh: Director of International Partnerships and Projects at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Senior Editorial Advisor to Cultural Survival Quarterly, The World Report on the Rights, Voices and Visions of Indigenous Peoples
  • Dr. Hamlet Petrosyan: Chair of Cultural Studies Department, Yerevan State University
  • Dr. Anahit Ter-Stepanian: Professor of History of Architecture, Russian Modernism, and Art and Revolution at Southern Connecticut State University; Professor of Art History at Sacred Heart University
Past Members of Advisory Board
  • Dr. Armen Haghnazarian, founder of Research on Armenian Architecture
  • Dr. Lucy Der Manuelian: Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor of Armenian Art and Architectural History, Department of Art and Art History, Tufts University
Founder and Director:
  • Simon Maghakyan, MA

Past Management:

  • Sarah Pickman, Outreach Director
  • Zane Stevens, Project Director

Technical Sponsorship: 

  • Armen Hovhannisyan, webmaster and administrator of www.hayastan.com
  • Armine Paglevanyan, designer

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