J. Michael Hagopian was born in Kharpert-Mezreh, a town located within the boundaries of the Turkish Ottoman Empire at the time of his birth. He miraculously survived the devastating events of 1915, in which the Turkish government orchestrated the extermination of approximately 1.5 million Armenians. This traumatic experience had a profound impact on Dr. Hagopian's life, inspiring him to dedicate his professional career to the visual documentation of the Armenian Genocide.
In pursuit of his academic goals, Dr. Hagopian went on to earn a doctoral degree in international relations from Harvard University, as well as an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He also completed two years of graduate work in cinema at the University of Southern California (USC).
Throughout his remarkable 97-year life, Dr. Hagopian wrote, directed, and produced an impressive total of over 70 educational and documentary films. These films collectively earned more than 160 national and international awards, including two Emmy nominations for his work on the documentary film, "The Forgotten Genocide". Dr. Hagopian played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Armenian Film Foundation in 1979, an organization that has received funding from a diverse range of institutions, including the California Endowment for the Humanities, the Milken Families Foundation, the United States Office of Education, the Ethnic Heritage Program, the Arshag Dickranian Foundation, the George Ignatius Foundation, the Alex Manoogian Foundation, the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, the ARCO Foundation, and the California State Department of Education.
Throughout his life, Dr. Hagopian received numerous honors and accolades in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of documentary filmmaking. He was awarded the "I Witness" Award by Jewish World Watch for his dedication to chronicling the Armenian Genocide, as well as the Arpa Lifetime Achievement Award and the Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award. The Armenian National Committee honored Dr. Hagopian as Man of the Year on two separate occasions, in 1984 and 2000.
