Dr. Rita Vorperian, a veteran leader of the Armenian Relief Society Western U.S., an academician and prolific writer, passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was 88.
For more than two decades, Vorperian served as the Executive Director of the ARS Western U.S., administrating the organization’s vital activities, as it expanded not only its social services in the community, but also its relief efforts in Armenia and elsewhere in the Diaspora.
Born in Aleppo, Syria, Vorperian graduated from the local Karen Yeppe Armenian High School. She continued her studies at the St. Joseph University in Beirut, earning a degree in Armenian Studies. After moving to the United States, Vorperian enrolled in UCLA, from where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Near Eastern Studies, a Master’s degree in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and a Ph.D. Armenian literature and literary criticism.
Vorperian was a teaching fellow and lecturer in Western Armenian at UCLA.
She was a contributor to Asbarez, where her articles on language, culture and politics were featured not only in the publication’s Year End and April 24 special issues, but were a regular part of the newspaper’s varied commentary and op-ed pages.
At the request of Asbarez, Vorperian was awarded the Mestrob Mashdots Medal by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. That award was presented at a special event by then Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.
Vorperian was also one of the founding members of the Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Association of Western U.S.
On behalf of the management, editorial board and staff of Asbarez, we offer our condolences to Vorperian’s son, Harry, himself a collaborator and contributor to the publication, her relatives, friends and colleagues.
Asbarez will feature tributes to Vorperian in its upcoming editions.