Armenia: Anna Ter Avetikian

Born in 1908 in Yerevan in the Russian Empire (now known as Armenia), Anna Ter Avetikian is considered the first Armenian woman architect. She studied in the Department of Architecture at the Technical School of Yerevan State University (YSU) in Yerevan, Armenia (1924–1930). Avetikian earned recognition for one of her designs in the exhibition titled “Woman in Art and Folk Art,” at the Parisian International Exhibit (1938). From 1941 through 1943, Avetikan served as chair of the Armenian Union of Architects. She earned the status of Architect Emeritus  of Armenia (1968) before her retirement in 1972. She was also awarded the Yerevan Gold Medal issued by the Yerevan City Hall (2008), earned the Alexander Tamianian Gold Medal issued by the Republic of Armenia (2002), and was named a “Laureate of the All-Union Review of the Technical Creativity of Women Architects” in the Soviet Union (1956). Anna Ter Avetikian died in 2013 in Yerevan, Armenia.