Vazgen Galstyan Foundation

Vazgen Galstyan

2002-2020

On September 27, 2020 a 44-day war erupted over the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a small mountainous region nestled between the countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Though historically inhabited by ethnic Armenians, the lands were placed under Azeri control during the early years of the Soviet Union, sowing the seeds of conflict and full-scale war that have persisted ever since. In this most recent war that was all but un-noticed by the rest of the world, it is estimated that over 7,000 young Armenian men died, having a profound and excruciating impact on their parents, their families and the nation as a whole. In a small country of 3 million the loss of this generation of men is profound.

Vazgen Galstyan was one of many killed on October 2nd as the Turkish-backed Azeri army over-ran their position in the dusty and deserted frontline territory of Jabrayil. Each one of these citizen-soldiers deserves to have their stories told, but Vazgen’s sheds a bright light on the tragedy of losing a whole class of recent high school graduates, their optimism and potential extinguished before it could ever be realized.

Vazgen was a young man brimming with life, ambition and intelligence. Just two weeks before being drafted he was awarded a full scholarship to study Radio Physics at Yerevan State University, one of the most prestigious universities in Armenia. This was a culmination of years of curiosity and hard work dating back to when he was a small child. A family story describes how when Vazgen was just 4 years old he dropped all of his mom’s clothespins from his apartment’s fourth floor window to count how long it would take them to hit the ground. Vazgen did not yet go to school, but he had already begun to understand the mathematical physics of gravity.

Years later when he was in high school, Vazgen helped his father Yuri Galstyan (who is also a physics teacher and author of multiple textbooks) develop a manual for solving physics problems aimed at a younger audience. At such a young age, it was amazing to see Vazgen’s passion for science and his seriousness towards academics. But he was also fun loving, often the center of attention at school dances, at the local bowling alley or showing off his knowledge of Marvel movies.

Vazgen was not a battle-hardened soldier, but instead an 18-year old recruit who was restless to complete his two years of service so he could get on with his academic pursuits. Knowing his intellectual aptitude combined with his humor and gifts as a leader, it’s easy to imagine Vazgen rising to the highest heights in Armenian society.

When he went in to the draft board in July 2020 he had no idea a major conflict was brewing and that he would be thrown on the front line within two months, barely having had the opportunity to learn how to shoot a gun. It is difficult to piece together all that happened in this short timeframe, but fellow recruits describe his friendship and bravery as Israeli and Turkish drones buzzed above, watching their every move and firing terrifying precision weapons on anything that moved down below.

After the war, his commanding sergeant described how, even though his leg had been injured, he refused to be evacuated in order to allow those with worse wounds to be treated first. The next day, only five days into the war, he and three others were killed in their trench by a rain of artillery fire. Vazgen’s body was left there for 72 long days before humanitarian workers protected by Russian peacekeepers were able to find and remove him. Vazgen now rests in the national cemetery alongside many others, each with their own story that ended so abruptly one year ago.

It is not for those terrifying two months, but for the 18 years leading up to them that his family created the Vazgen Galstyan Scientific-Educational-Cultural Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to enable all those who aspire to excellence – regardless of their financial means – to attend university and become the future leaders of Armenia. Perhaps we can’t find meaning in Vazgen’s tragic loss, but we can transform those feelings of anguish and pain into love and learning as we support the next generation.