On September 30, 2026, at 11:00, the YSU Faculty of Oriental Studies will host a presentation of the book "Three Scandinavian missionary women and the Armenian Genocide."
The book was published in June 2026 by Lund University Press and Manchester University Press.
It tells the story of three Scandinavian missionary women who devoted their lives to helping Armenian women and children. They witnessed the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and continued working with Armenian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Greece and the Armenian SSR over the following decades. Amid the violence, the women were compelled to develop additional skills and take on responsibilities beyond those for which they had originally been prepared, becoming part of an international humanitarian network supporting Armenian refugees in the Middle East.
The book examines their story through the international, religious and gender dimensions of relief work, exploring religious motivations and missionary practices in humanitarianism, as well as women's roles as both victims and actors in wartime.
