Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kim Kardashian West thanked the United States Library of Congress on her 40th birthday on Wednesday for finally recognizing the Armenian Genocide that left 1.5M dead.
The Calabasas socialite – whose late father Robert was second-generation Armenian-American – was relieved the LOC amended their terminology of the catalog entry previously titled ‘Armenian Massacre, 1915-1923.’
‘The best birthday present!’ Kim – who boasts 290.8M social media followers – tweeted.
Activist: KUWTK star Kim Kardashian West thanked the United States Library of Congress on her 40th birthday on Wednesday for finally recognizing the Armenian Genocide that left 1.5M dead (pictured in 2019 with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian)
‘The best birthday present!’ The Calabasas socialite – whose late father Robert was second-generation Armenian-American – was relieved the LOC amended their terminology of the catalog entry previously titled ‘Armenian Massacre, 1915-1923’
‘This landmark news was announced nearly one year after recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress and in the setting of the recent devastating attacks on Armenians in Artsakh.
‘Thank you to all the individuals at the Library of Congress, members of Congress, @ANCA_DC & @UCLA library for working tirelessly on the efforts to continue to advocate for Armenians.’
Kardashian concluded: ‘Together, we continue to pray during this difficult time for the many men, women, and children who have been impacted by the war. We are one global Armenian nation.’
11 days earlier, the aspiring attorney announced she donated $1M to the Armenia Fund providing humanitarian relief to those affected by the conflict, which just erupted over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory on September 27.
Kim tweeted: ‘This landmark news was announced nearly one year after recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress and in the setting of the recent devastating attacks on Armenians in Artsakh’
Kardashian concluded: ‘Thank you to all the individuals at the Library of Congress, members of Congress, @ANCA_DC & @UCLA library for working tirelessly on the efforts to continue to advocate for Armenians’
‘In Support of Armenia and Artsakh’: 11 days earlier, the aspiring attorney announced she donated $1M to the Armenia Fund providing humanitarian relief to those affected by the conflict, which just erupted over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory on September 27
Heritage: Kim and her older sister Kourtney (2-L) traveled to Armenia a year ago to visit Armenian Genocide Museum, baptize themselves and their children, as well as wining and dining President Armen Sarkissian
THE KARDASHIANS’ CONNECTION TO ARMENIA
Robert Kardashian, father of Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and Robert Jr, was a third-generation Armenian American.
The celebrity lawyer, who passed away in 2003 just eight weeks after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, passed on his pride in his heritage to his family, who have been vocal about their Armenian roots.
Robert’s ancestors fled the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century, thanks to a ‘prophet’ who urged them to uproot to America.
Known at the time as the Kardaschoffs, in Russian style, the family made their way from their home village of Karakale in the late 19th Century to German ports. From there, they travelled to a new life in America on the passenger vessels SS Brandenberg and SS Koln.
Treated like royalty: Kim and Khloe were treated to a special dinner with locals in Armenia when they visited in 2015
By doing so, they escaped the triple horror of the First World War from 1914-18, the ‘Armenian Genocide’ starting in 1915 – exactly a century ago this year – and the Russian Revolution in 1917.
Among those fleeing Erzurum – then in Armenia, and ruled by last Russian Tsar Nicholas II was family patriarch Hovhannes Miroyan and Kim’s great great grandfather, born in 1844. He married Luciag Chorbajian, born in 1853.
The couple wed in Erzurum, which is now in Turkey, in 1867 but escaped along with their daughter Vartanoosh Mironyan, born in 1886, in the early 20th century.
Vartanoosh’s distinctly blonde daughter Haigoohi Arakelian – known as Helen, born in America in 1917, the year the Bolshevik Revolution rocked the Russian Empire – was Kim’s grandmother, who later married into the Kardashian clan.
The glamorous and ‘dynamic’ Helen wed Arthur who ran the largest meat-packing business in southern California.
Helen’s son Robert married Kris Houghton and fathered the 21st Century’s biggest reality TV stars Kourtney, Khloe, Robert Jr and most famous of all – Kim.
Their mother Kris eventually married Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, and together they raised two more TV personalities, Kendall and Kylie.
Kim and her older sister Kourtney traveled to Armenia a year ago to visit Armenian Genocide Museum, baptize themselves and their children, as well as wining and dining President Armen Sarkissian.
On Wednesday, Kardashian received the usual birthday greetings and slideshows from her third husband Kanye West and large extended family.
The SKIMS CEO also received tributes from famous friends including Victoria Beckham, Fergie, Nicki Minaj, Winnie Harlow, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Sagdiyev.
‘I love you so much!’ On Wednesday, Kardashian received the usual birthday greetings and slideshows from her third husband Kanye West and large extended family
‘OMG!’ The SKIMS CEO also received tributes from famous friends including Victoria Beckham, Fergie, Nicki Minaj, Winnie Harlow, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Sagdiyev
‘Just dropped!’ In true enterprising Kardashian-Jenner form, Kim used the attention from her special day to promote her brand new KKW Beauty ‘Opalescent’ collection inspired by her birth stone
‘Happy Place’: The Justice Project star reportedly plans on ‘flying 30 of her nearest and dearest to a private island in the Caribbean’ for coronavirus-conscious festivities (pictured with family in Wyoming on Tuesday)
In true enterprising Kardashian-Jenner form, Kim used the attention from her special day to promote her brand new KKW Beauty ‘Opalescent’ collection inspired by her birth stone.
The Justice Project star plans on ‘flying 30 of her nearest and dearest to a private island in the Caribbean’ for coronavirus-conscious festivities, according to Page Six.
Kim will also be feted by the E! Network, which will air a KUWTK marathon followed by a special dedicated to her birthday airing 10/9C.
‘The most Kim-portant day of the year!’ Kim will also be feted by the E! Network, which will air a KUWTK marathon followed by a special dedicated to her birthday airing 10/9C