Born in Akhalkalaki, 1961, in the family of honoured journalist Aghasi Harutyun Melkonyan. In 1977 he left N4 school after Derenik Demirchyan in Akhalkalaki with a gold medal. In 1971-1976 he studied at Akhalkalaki musical school, and in 1977 he entered the Faculty of History of Yerevan State University which he graduated from with honors in 1982, in 1982-1985 he was a post-graduate student at the Chair of Armenian History of the same University. In 1989 A. Melkonyan defended a thesis for the degree of Candidate of Sciences entitled “The Armenian Population of Erzrum Province of Western Armenia at the First Three Decades of the 19th Century”. In October 1986 A. Melkonyan started working at the Institute of History of the RA National Academy of Sciences firstly as a laboratory assistant then as a researcher, scientific secretary and Deputy Director for Scientific Issues. In 2002 he defended a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Sciences entitled “Javakhk in the 19th Century and the First Quarter of the 20th Century”. Since July 2002 A. Melkonyan has been the Director of the Institute of History of the RA National Academy of Sciences, in 2004 he got the scientific title of a professor. On December 15, 2006 he was elected as a NAS RA Corresponding Member and on December 27, 2014 as an Academician. The main issues of Western Armenia, Armenian Question, Armenian Genocide, history of Javakhk, Armenian-Georgian relations, historical demography of Armenia are within the scope of scientific interests of A. Melkonyan. He has authored over 15 books and more than 400 scientific articles. 14 theses for the degree of Candidate of Sciences has been defended under his supervision devoted to the topics of historical demography of Armenia and the Genocide. He has edited a series of scientific works. A. Melkonyan is heading the Scientific Council of the NAS RA Institute of History and the 004 Professional Council of Armenian History, is a member of the Editorial Board of YSU Council, Scientific Councils of the Faculty of History, NAS RA Institute of Oriental Studies, History Museum of Yerevan City and several scientific journals (“Historical-Philological Journal”. “Herald of Social Sciences”, “Journal of Armenian Studies”, “Herald of Humanitarian and Legal Sciences (Stavropol, North-Caucasian Federal University)”, “Kantegh”, “Journal of Armenian Archives”). For his outstanding achievements in the field of historical science by the Decree issued as of October 8, 2003 by the RA President, A. Melkonyan was awarded with “Movses Khorenatsi” medal and in 2005 – by the Decree of the RA Prime Minister with a medal for his active participation in the events dedicated to the 90th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide. In August 2009, A. Melkonyan was awarded the title of Honoured Citizen of Akhalkalaki, in 2015 he received “Argisht the First” medal of Yerevan Municipality. On February 19, 2018 he was awarded with “Vachagan the Pious” medal by the President of the Artsakh Republic. Academician of the NAS RA, Dr. of Sci. in History, Professor, Director of the NAS RA Institute of History. Scientific interests: historical demography of Armenia, history of Western Armenia, history of Armenian Genocide, history of Armenian statehood. Author of 18 monographs and around 450 articles.

Areas of researches/ Research Interests