The star of Charles Aznavour

When you enter Akhaltsikhe Fortress, you can see a star that reminds everyone of one of the greatest and best-known sons of the region: world famous French singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat Charles Aznavour.

Charles Aznavour was born in 1924 under the name of Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian in Paris to a family that had just emigrated to France two years before. Charles’ mother came from an Armenian family living in Turkey, and his father was born right here in Akhaltsikhe, in the settlement of Rabat.

Aznavour gained huge popularity during the 1960s and 70s as a singer and actor and pursued his mostly musical career for almost 80 years. He sold more than 200 million records and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017.

But Charles Aznavour was not only a popular singer, composer and actor. He was very active as a diplomat and always very dedicated to the origins of his family. In response to the heavy Armenian earthquake in 1988, he founded the Aznavour for Armenia charity organization in order to raise money.

He was granted Armenian citizenship in 2008 and was appointed Ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland a year later. He was also Armenia's Permanent Representative to the UN. The star you can see at the entrance of Rabati Castle was revealed in 2012, when Aznavour gave a special concert in honor of the opening of the recently restored Akhaltsikhe Fortress.

Charles Aznavour died in France on October 1st, 2018, at the age of 95.

Picture credits: beyondarts GmbH

Project “Increased regional added value in the tourism sectors of Georgia by Digital Heritage Tourism Guides” was funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds of Austrian Development Cooperation.