Solomon Alexander Nigosian

Solomon Alexander Nigosian (Nigoghossian) (1932-2020) was born in 1932, in Alexandria, Egypt, to Abraham and Alice (née Kutchukian). He married Henaz Madzounian in 1952, and together they immigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1955 before settling in Toronto in 1956. The Nigosians had two children, Leo (Levon) and Diana, both born in Toronto. He passed away in Toronto in April 2020.

In 1949, Solomon Nigosian received a certificate from the Oxford and Cambridge school in Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt. He received a B.A. from University of Toronto (1968), a M.A. from McMaster University (1970) after completing his thesis entitled “Indo-Aryan Religions in Achaemenid Persia”. He also received his Ph.D. degree in 1975 from McMaster University, submitting a thesis entitled “The Song of Moses (Deut. 32:1–43)”. In addition, he held two certificates related to mechanical draughtsmanship and graphic arts, as well as a Sunday School Teacher’s Certificate.

Before immigrating to Canada, Solomon Nigosian worked in various clerk and draughtsman positions in Alexandria. After moving to Canada, he worked for a number of printing companies in Montreal and Toronto. In 1972 he accepted an assistant professorship at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Toronto, where he taught courses in his fields of expertise of world religions, Near Eastern religions, and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He was also a visiting lecturer at a number of Canadian universities, such as York University and Wilfrid Laurier University. He was a Research Associate at Victoria College, University of Toronto, and he taught Continuing Education courses at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.

Solomon Nigosian was the founder and the first minister of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto (1960–1968). He was ordained to Christian Ministry by the Armenian Evangelical Union Inc. in 1963, and attended Toronto Bible College (1963–64). He was a founder of the Canada–Armenian Press journal, for which he served as an editor from 1963 to 1968, and has written a number of articles for several Armenian religious publications. He was also actively involved in the Armenian Evangelical union (1964–1971).

Solomon Nigosian was a recipient of a number of awards, among them the Excellence in Teaching Award from the School of Continuing Studies, University of Toronto. He was also a member of a number of professional organizations, such as the International Association for the History of Religion (IAHR) and Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR). He wrote over a hundred articles and books, and gave lectures on the history of religions and Armenian culture and history. His most recent publications include Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices (2004), World Religions: A Historical Approach (2000), and “Images of Moses: a comparative inquiry” (Theological Review, 2002).

Solomon Nigosian travelled extensively for research purposes, visiting the Middle East, India, China, Japan, former USSR, and England. He spoke several languages including Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, New Testament Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, and French.