07/14/2026
NAASR is deeply saddened to inform our members and friends of the passing of Dr. Barbara J. (Nahigian) Merguerian. We express our deepest condolences to her family and many friends and colleagues around the world while also remembering and celebrating her myriad contributions to the Armenian community throughout her long life.
The proud descendant of Armenians from the Kharpert region, Barbara was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. She graduated (as valedictorian) from Cranston High School and attended Pembroke College at Brown University. Subsequently, she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Russian History at Harvard University.
While a graduate student at Harvard, Barbara became a charter member of NAASR, joining in the organization’s inaugural year of 1955. She met her future husband, the late Arshag Merguerian, at a NAASR event in the 1950s and remained a member and a supporter of the organization for the rest of her life. She also served NAASR as its Director of Information and Publications in the 1980s and early 1990s, editing numerous NAASR book publications, its Journal of Armenian Studies, and helping to organize several major NAASR academic conferences. She remained a steady, familiar, and welcome presence at NAASR events even after health issues slowed her pace in recent years.
Merguerian’s legacy extends across an amazing breadth of the Armenian community. Above and beyond her work with NAASR, she was twice the editor of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, vice president of the Society of Armenian Studies, and served on the boards of the Armenian Cultural Foundation, the Armenian Museum of America, the Armenian Assembly of America, and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and with Eva Medzorian and the late Olga Proudian, co-founded the Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA) and remained a key figure in the development of AIWA over the past 35 years.
As a scholar, Barbara was a guest lecturer at Yerevan State University, California State University Fresno, and Tufts University, participated in many academic conferences, and was a pioneering figure both in the study of Armenian women’s history and in the study of the impact of American missionaries on the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.
Barbara Merguerian is survived by her daughters Gayane Karen Merguerian (Malik M***i) of Woburn, MA, and Elaine Tamara Merguerian (Rick Morris) of Brooklyn, NY, granddaughters Setenay Ani M***i and Lousig Angela Morris, and nephews John and Ed Merguerian of Glendale, California.
Funeral Services will be held at St. James Armenian Church, 465 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown on Thursday, July 16th at 10:30 am. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting Hours will be at Giragosian Funeral Home, 576 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown on Wednesday from 5-8 pm. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellesley.
Memorial donations may be made to the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478 or by visiting https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E332049&id=26
https://www.giragosianfuneralhome.com/obituary/barbara-merguerian
