Remembering Movses Hovsepian, my brothe-in-law

Vahe H. Apelian

MOVSES HOVSEPIAN (September 29, 1944) was my brother-in-law and former classmate in the American University of Beirut School of Pharmacy. He suddenly passed away a few days ago, October 21, 2019 in the  afternoon in their house, in NJ. He and his wife Ovsanna picked me from the Kennedy Airport on a late afternoon on June 9, 1976 as I came on to this shore as another immigrant. He was a brilliant student and served the NY University Medical Center for 41 years, as an Assistant Director of Pharmacy during the past twenty plus years. . Attached is the eulogy I read at his funeral. 

 I met Movses for the first time fifty-two years ago, around this time of the year, during the commencement of the 1967 scholastic year at the American University of Beirut. We were to study Pharmacy. Thirty students or so made the class; six were Armenians. 

I soon found out that he was from Aleppo and had graduated from its famed Karen Yeppe Jemaran and had successfully passed his Syrian Baccalaureate examinations but was held back a year because of his Calouste Gulbenkian scholarship had not come on time. In the interim, he had taught in an Armenian School. We also soon found out that he was a brilliant student. He had an uncanny ability to retain and process information. He was calm and composed. His demeanor did not change before tests and exams. I was also astonished to find out that at times he had played card games with relatives the evening before the exam. But he did well.

I do not mean to say that he did not study. We often studied together either at the university or in our house or theirs. It is thus that I met Marie,  his parents, his elder brother Hovsep, his younger brother Krikor. All of whom  predeceased him.  It was during this time that Kevork Donabedian, the one time principal of the Karen Jeppe Jemaran was staying in the inn, Hotel Lux, my father ran. When he found out that we were friends he confirmed to me what I had suspected all along; Movses had a reputation in the school as a bright promising  student.

Four years later we graduated. Many department heads were interested in having him pursue graduate work. He chose Pharmacology. It so happened that I too had a graduate assistantship in another department. For the next two years, we often had lunch together in the hospital cafeteria. It was obvious that Lebanon did not offer him a future for the family he had newly formed, especially that he was a Syrian national. He took advantage of the preferential U.S. quota for medical doctors, nurses, and pharmacists and with the help of the international Red Cross immigrated to the U.S. during the 1972/73 timeframe. His brother Krikor and sister Marie had already moved to NJ. Naturally, we corresponded. Email, instant messaging, cell phones were not in our wildest dreams then.

Karen Yeppe Jemaran 1964  Graduating Class

In 1975 civil war erupted in Lebanon. I too wanted to take advantage of the preferential quota and immigrate to the U.S. All I needed was affidavit of support from two individuals. Movses and family friend Mr. and Mrs. Noubar and Knar Manougian, formerly from Egypt, who had stayed in Hotel Lux, my father ran, on their way immigrating to the U.S., also sent statements for support to the American Embassy. I left Lebanon early July on a private yacht that was being used for transporting people to Cyprus, from there I went to Athens and landed in the Kennedy Airport in the late afternoon on July 9, 1976. Unfortunately, my telegrams had not reached its destination. It turned out that Noubar and Knar were out of the country. But I had Movses’s telephone number. I called him. He and his wife Ovsanna immediately came down and picked me from the airport. Thus, I spent my first night in the U.S. and the next two weeks or so as well in their apartment on Essex Street in Hackensack, NJ.

Movses was working in the Pharmacology Department of the New York University (NYU) Medical Center. When the opportunity presented itself he started his pharmacy internship and passed the board examinations in one sitting and set his course in the Pharmacy in NYU Medical Center. There followed the hectic decades of hard work, long commutes, to meet the demands of our growing families. But I was not surprised that his innate abilities were soon recognized and he advanced in rank and became the a Director of Pharmacy there for the past two-plus decades. 

Movses retired in 2016. The NYU Langone Medical Center presented him with a plaque that reads: “ MOVSES HOVSEPIAN, MS, In Appreciation for Your 41 Years of Dedicated Service and Leadership for Safe and Effective Use of Medications at NYU Langone Medical Center. 2016”. I became reflective when I read the plaque. One of the premier medical centers in the United States had not only appreciated Movses’ 41 years of dedicated service there but had also acknowledged his leadership. Along with the professional responsibilities he discharged during those years he was also entrusted with editing one of the well-known medication reference books on their safe and effective use, MODELL’S DRUGs in current use and NEW DRUGS. That year's edition  prominently displays on its cover MOVSES HOVSEPIAN as the editor.

Reflecting on the young man from Aleppo I met 52 years ago, whose university schooling was held back a year because of late scholarship, his was a remarkable professional achievement. But Movses in his core was a humble man, a modest man, unassuming and unpretentious who enjoyed the everyday mundane things in life, time with his family, camaraderie with friends and the Armenian Heritage excursions he participated year after year.

As student training inthe Syrian Army, cover of the book he edited, and his
 NY University Medial Center service plaque

In spite of the sham and drudgery, we all like to be on this earth for one more year, or one more month or even for one more day. This was what was ordained for him. His death was sudden due to pulmonary insufficiency. But I am sure, given the chance, Movses would have wanted to have the same parents, attended the same school, studied the same profession, married the same woman, had the same son, formed the same family and embarked on the same career track and would not have wanted otherwise.

In the next hour or so, we will have his body buried in a grave next to his father’s in a family plot in Crest Haven Memorial Park, in Clifton, NJ, where we lived once. I am sure he will rest in peace. Paraphrasing the Bible, he fought the good fight and he kept the faith through his exemplary citizenship and support to many upcoming students. We also will take leave of him in peace being thankful for having the pleasure and the privilege of having him as a devoted husband, father, and a good friend and a brother-in-law.

Demonstrating against the Turkish Week at the American University of Beirut.