Birth of Paul Sagsoorian (March 26, 1923)
Paul Sagsoorian was a familiar presence in the publications of the Armenian American community, especially in the New York area, but also an accomplished illustrator in non-Armenian circles.
He was born in New York on March 26, 1923, to a family from the village of Havav, in the district of Palu (province of Diarbekir–Tigranakert). He graduated from the US Army’s mapmaking school during his three years of World War II service in the European theater of operations. He received a sharpshooter’s medal during a military trip to Iceland and a good conduct medal while in Europe. He worked on maps for mine-laying in Iceland and their removal in Normandy.
After the war, Sagsoorian attended the Mechanics Institute and then the Workshop School of Advertising Art in New York. He worked for art studios, advertising agencies and book publishers producing displays, advertisements, magazine illustrations and book and album jackets. He illustrated poems in the New York Times magazine, Harpers, and the New Yorker. In 1957, the American Institute of Graphic Arts selected a book illustrated by Sagsoorian as one of its 50 Best Books of the Year.
He illustrated some 15 books on a variety of non-Armenian topics, primarily for younger readers, especially with the fantasy series Danny Dunn (1969-1978). He was also the illustrator of many books on Armenian topics, including, among others, the translation of the famous Armenian epic Daredevils of Sassoun, by Leon Surmelian (1964) and Nishan Parlakian’s translations of three plays, Alexandre Shirvanzade’s For the Sake of Honor (1976) and Evil Spirit (1980) and Aramashot Babayan’s Be Nice, I’m Dead (1990). He also illustrated Arthur Ayvazian’s historical work, Armenian Victories at Khznavous and Sardarabad, and Haig Baronian’s Armenian Genocide survivor account, Barefoot Boy from Anatolia, both published in 1983, as well as Virginia Haroutunian’s Orphan in the Sand (1995).
Starting in 1964, Sagsoorian’s artwork was published in Ararat Quarterly and became the artist in charge of the journal in 1978. His work for Armenian American organizations, including the Eastern Diocese, the Eastern Prelacy, the Armenian Evangelical Church and many other organizations in the New York area, was a labor of love and service as a talented free-lance artist.
He passed away on October 2, 2016, at the former Armenian Home, and was buried in Cedar Grove cemetery in Queens.