TV Presentation of Meline Manouchian's "Missak Manouchian: Through the Eyes of an Eyewitness" (Video)

Translator Lilit Bleyan shared that just days prior, she was at the Pantheon in Paris, where Missak and Meline Manouchian were reburied.

"Manouchian is a well-known figure in France, especially as discussions around the resistance movement gain traction, raising the French spirit."

At the Pantheon, the names of all the members of Manouchian’s family are inscribed near the entrance. Missak never had the chance to visit Armenia; it remained a dream for him. In his last letter to Meline, he expressed his wish to leave his literary legacy to Armenia. Meline arrived in Armenia after Missak's execution and struggled for a long time to return to meet her sister. This book narrates the complicated fate of "two little orphans."

Meline Manouchian's memoir was published thirty years after Missak's death, and fifty years later, it was released in Marseille. This year, Newmag Publishing House translated and published the memoir in Armenian. The book is divided into two parts: the first consists of Meline's memoirs, while the second includes interviews and photographs.

Our edition also features a bonus: when Meline returned to France from Armenia, she invited young writer Marc Deleuze to her home. He spent a month listening to her stories about Missak and recorded them. Now 80 years old, we asked him to write an epilogue for the book, detailing how he met Meline and the process of capturing her narratives.

Readers, historians, and specialists will discover how Meline and Missak became members of the French resistance, along with important and exclusive photographs documenting their journey. The memoir was edited by Armen Amirkhanyan.

"Through this book, we gain insight into why Manouchian and his comrades fought for France."

In truth, they fought not only for France but also for Armenia, their families, and their lost homeland. Missak's family had also fallen victim to fascism and intolerance. He grew up in an orphanage in Lebanon, and when news of the earthquake in Armenia reached them, the children sacrificed their meals for a day to send the money to support their homeland.