Half a century of Arsen Minasyan's charity work celebrated in Rasht

Yesterday, the people of Rasht commemorated the anniversary of the death of Arsen Minasyan and his charitable works in the city of Rasht.

Arsen Minasyan was born in 1979 to an Armenian family in Rasht. When he was a primary school child, he gave the clothes he was wearing to another child who was cold during a cold winter. His good deeds became famous in his youth and youth. He became a lasting name for the city of Rasht by establishing the "Karon" 24-hour pharmacy as the first 24-hour pharmacy in the country, and he would stay in this pharmacy until late and make medicine for the patients.

The idea of ​​establishing this pharmacy came to him when Iran was in the midst of World War II and the people were witnessing many deaths and injuries. Seeing the suffering of the people of Rasht and the poverty and destitution of the people who could not even afford to buy medicine, Arsen Minasyan founded the "Karon" pharmacy and provided medicines to the needy for free. During World War II, he stayed up late at night to make more medicines and sometimes even went to Tehran at night to obtain the raw materials needed for the medicines.

Arsen, who had learned to make traditional medicines in his youth in the city of Qazvin, pursued the experimental profession of pharmacy after returning to Rasht, selling his medicines at a low price and providing them to the needy for free. The University of Tehran awarded Arsen Minassian an honorary doctorate in pharmacy for his humanitarian services, and he was able to establish the "Karun" pharmacy in 1921.

It has been almost half a century since the death of Arsen Minasyan, an Armenian benefactor. He passed away at around midnight on April 4, 1977, at the Rasht Charity Home for the Elderly and Disabled, a home he had founded. His funeral was one of the busiest ceremonies that the elderly of Rasht still remember, as one day after the Nowruz holiday, Muslim people carried the coffin of this Christian man on their shoulders with prayers and buried him.

Unlike other Armenians in Rasht, Arsen Minasyan was not buried in the Armenian cemetery of Bulagh, but in the yard of the Armenian school in Rasht at the beginning of Saadi Street. The yard has only two tombstones, the tomb of Khwaja Avadis, the founder of the Armenian church and school, and the other of Arsen Minasyan, which indicates the importance of his influential personality.

He is also one of the founders of the country's first charitable nursing home for the elderly and disabled, and the people of Rasht attend his grave every year on Farvardin 4th and honor his good deeds.

"Abdolsattar Kakaei" also made a documentary titled "Monsieur Arsen" on August 12, 2018, which was screened in Rasht. This documentary deals with the life and charitable activities of Arsen Minassian, an Armenian philanthropist who lived in Rasht. Many people know Arsen as the founder of the country's first 24-hour pharmacy called "Karon" and the country's first charitable nursing home for the elderly and disabled in Rasht, but the humanitarian services of this Armenian pharmacist were not limited to these two great works.

Abdul Sattar Kakaei began his research for this documentary in 2015 and began filming it with some Rasht artists in March of that year. Speaking about the subject during the screening of the documentary at the Khatam al-Anbiya Complex, he said: “In a time when everyone is looking for profit, there are also people who give of themselves to the vulnerable segments of society. Noble people who are like angels and give of their lives and financial income and give gifts to others without thinking about their return.”

While researching Arsen Minassian, Mr. Kakaei became more familiar with the people of Rasht, and his judgment about these people is that they are a cultured people. He says about the people of Rasht: "It is not surprising that a person like Arsen would emerge from these people. Arsen was like all of you, and all of you are like Arsen."

Now, years after his death, every year on April 4th, after the Nowruz holiday, the anniversary ceremony of Arsen Minasyan is held in the courtyard of the Armenian school. Arsen's good deeds are remembered in this ceremony, and officials from the Rasht Welfare and Elderly Charity Home also attend the ceremony, honoring and honoring his lasting actions, which became a movement throughout the country.

Arsen Minasyan's name is next to the names of other benefactors such as "Hossein Estamakh", "Dr. Hakimzadeh", "the late Chinichian", and "Ayatollah Ziabari", who founded the country's first charitable and elderly nursing home.

Although the old Karun Pharmacy building, which was located at the beginning of Imam Street, was given to other people and unfortunately, the building was demolished in the past two years, the franchise of this pharmacy with the same name, "Karun", was transferred to the beginning of Alam-ul-Huda Street in Rasht and is still open.