YEREVAN (Novosti Armenia), March 9 – On March 7 Antonia Arslan, a famous Italian writer of Armenian origin and the professor of modern Italian literature at the University of Padua, was awarded the gold medal of the Armenian Ministry of Culture. The award ceremony was held at the Armenian Ambassy in Italy.

The Armenian Ambassador to Italy, Ruben Karapetian, stressed the importance of Antonia Arslan’s contribution in strengthening Armenian-Italian relations, mentioning her long-term productive creative work and her unlimited devotion to the Armenian people.

Arslan mentioned that as the winner of many awards (Premio Campiello, Premio Stresa Di Narrativa, Premio P.E.N., Premio Manzoni and so on), she was given an award by the Armenian government for the first time.

The event was attended by many writers, art critics, teachers and representatives of the Armenian community in Italy.

Antonia Arslan is known to the Armenian public as the author of the book “Skylark Farm,” which tells about the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The book, published in 2004, has since been translated into many languages.

Translated from Russian by Yerevan Report