Mrs. Dolores Zohrab Liebmann was the daughter of the early twentieth-century Armenian intellectual, writer, and statesman Krikor Zohrab. During her lifetime, Mrs. Liebmann supported educational and charitable organizations, with a primary concern to attract and support students with outstanding character and ability, who would hold promise for achievement and distinction in their chosen fields of study.
Through a generous bequest at her death, Mrs. Liebmann created a perpetual charitable trust designated as The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund for the purpose of funding advanced education and graduate study grants, which must be carried out entirely in the United States of America.
The Eastern Diocese is among the select institutions eligible to nominate one candidate per year for the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Graduate Fellowship. Fellowships are renewable for three years and cover the cost of tuition and provide a stipend for living expenses.
We are pleased to announce that Diocesan nominee Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan, a Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America and pastor of St. Mary Armenian Church in Washington, DC, has been awarded the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowship for academic year 2024–2025.
Born in Armenia, Fr. Hovsep undertook study at Gevorgian Theological Seminary in Etchmiadzin and the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, graduating from the latter institution in 1997. In 2000, he earned a Master of Divinity from St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, writing a thesis on the 13th-century Armenian Church father Kirakos of Erzinka’s On the Eight Thoughts of Evagrius, published in the St. Nersess Theological Review vols. 5–6 (2000–2001).
After his graduation in 2000, he was appointed as deacon-in-charge of St. James Armenian Church in Richmond, VA. He was ordained into the holy priesthood of the Armenian Apostolic Church on February 22, 2004, by His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian. While in Richmond he also was instrumental in establishing a mission parish in the Tidewater area and served as the visiting pastor for the Armenian Church of Virginia’s Tidewater region.
In April of 2007, Fr. Hovsep was appointed as the pastor of St. Mary Armenian Church in Washington, DC, where he presently serves.
At the Catholic University of America, his research explores the works of the fourth-century Saint Evagrius of Pontus and their reception and significance in the Armenian monastic tradition. Evagrius’ writings, notable for their philosophical depth and rooted in the Alexandrian philosophical tradition, have profoundly impacted both Eastern and Western monastic traditions. In contrast, however, to his controversial legacy in the Greek and Latin traditions, in the Armenian tradition, Evagrius was venerated as a saint, and his teachings were diligently translated and preserved in numerous manuscripts.
In 2022, with Prof. Robin Darling Young, Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan co-authored Evagrius Ponticus, Letters. Armenian Translation, Corpus Scriptorium Christianorum Orientalium vol. 704 (Louvain: Peeters), a critical edition of a fascinating medieval reworking of the fourth-century Letters (and additional works) of Evagrius, wherein the letters are presented not as letters by Evagrius alone but as a correspondence between Evagrius and desert mother Melania the Elder. Continually interwoven with Biblical texts, they show the monastic teacher as a gnostikos guiding his female ascetic pupil.
Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan’s dissertation aims to offer a critical examination, along with the first translation into English, of two of Evagrius’ central works in Armenian, Praktikos (Արդիւնաւոր) and Gnostikos (Գիտնաւոր). The research will investigate how these works were received and adapted in Armenian monasticism, with particular attention to their controversial dogmatic views. It will also assess the influence of Evagrius’ teachings on Armenian monastic thought and practice. In addition to providing much needed critical editions of these texts, his dissertation will contribute new insights into their spiritual and philosophical significance and highlight their role in shaping Armenian spirituality and theological discourse throughout the ages.
Fr. Hovsep said, “Receiving the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship is both an honor and a privilege, greatly supporting my studies and ministry. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Diocesan Zohrab Center for their support and invaluable assistance in the application process. This fellowship will significantly aid in advancing my research and the successful completion of my program.”
The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowships are awarded only to candidates who have outstanding undergraduate records, have demonstrated a need for financial assistance, are citizens of the United States of America, are enrolled in accredited colleges and universities in the United States, and have received baccalaureate degrees. The trustees welcome applications from students of all national origins who are United States citizens.
Applications for the next cycle of funding will be announced in the Fall.