New Deputy Foreign Minister is Heidelberg and Cambridge graduate: Prime Minister’s new appointment

By a decision of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dated August 20, Ani Avetisyan has been appointed Deputy Foreign Minister. The decision was published on the e-gov.am electronic governance platform.

Avetisyan graduated from Heidelberg University and later the University of Cambridge, where she received a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies.

Prime Minister Pashinyan thus continues to appoint to senior positions professionals who have graduated from leading universities abroad and who, following his call, applied to join the Armenian Government’s talent pool.

Below is Ani Avetisyan’s biography.

Born on December 16, 1991, in Yerevan.

EDUCATION

Graduated from Yerevan School No. 67 named after Yeghishe Charents.

2008–2012 – Yerevan State University, BA in Oriental Studies.

June 2010–September 2010 – Arabic language course, Arabic Teaching Institute for Non-Arabic Speakers, Damascus, Syria.

2012–2014 – Yerevan State University, MA in Oriental Studies, with honours.

August 2014–March 2015 – Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

January 2015 – International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

April 2015–June 2018 – MA in Jewish Civilizations, HFJS, Heidelberg University, Germany.

October 2019–September 2023 – University of Cambridge, PhD in Middle Eastern Studies.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

February 2014–August 2014 – Matenadaran – Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Junior Researcher.

February 2019–October 2019 – Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Specialist in External Relations and International Cooperation. Founded Armenia’s first Centre for Hebrew Language and Culture.

March 2020 – Rutgers University, New Jersey, Guest Scholar. Delivered lectures on “Judeo-Arabic: An Introduction and Overview of Sources” and “The Lost Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts of the Matenadaran Collection”.

October 2021–October 2024 – Matenadaran – Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Project Specialist. Researched “Arabic-script Medical Manuscripts of the Matenadaran Collection” under a grant provided by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

October 2022–June 2023 – University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Supervisor. Taught the MES 5 (Modern Hebrew) course to undergraduate students and provided individual and group guidance to students on academic programmes corresponding to their interests.

July 2023 – University of Cambridge, Hebrew Summer School, Lecturer. Taught Modern Hebrew to a group of international students.

September 2025–May 2026 – Brandeis University, Institute for Israel Studies, Fellow.

January 2024–present – Woolf Institute, Cambridge, Research Affiliate.

September 2024–present – St Edmund’s College, Research Associate.

September 2024–present – University of Cambridge, Rothschild Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.

September 2025–present – Isaiah and Maria Mazmanyan Foundation (Cooperation and Partnerships), Member of the Board of Trustees.

From September 2026 – University of Cambridge, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan invited graduates of the world’s top 200 universities on June 13 to join the Armenian Government’s talent pool. On August 4, Pashinyan said 1,141 applications had already been received and that, following their review and preliminary selection, 459 candidates, or around 40% of applicants, had advanced to the second stage. The Prime Minister also said that he had decided to appoint a group of applicants to senior positions.