Paul Guiragossian
Paul Guiragossian (; 1926 – November 20, 1993) was an Armenian Lebanese painter. Biography Born to Armenian parents, who were survivors of the Armenian genocide, Paul Guiragossian experienced the consequences of exile from a very tender age. Raised in boarding schools, he grew up away from his mother who had to work to make sure her two sons received an education. In the early 1940s, Guiragossian and his family moved to Jaffa where he attended Studio Yarkon (1944 - 1945) to start improving his passion for painting. In 1947, the family moved again and settled in Lebanon. In the 1950s, Guiragossian started teaching art in several Armenian schools and worked as an illustrator. He later started his own business with his brother Antoine where they painted cinema banners, posters, and drawing illustrations for books. Soon after he was discovered for his art and introduced to his contemporaries after which he began exhibiting his works in Beirut and eventually all over the world. In 1956, Guiragossian won the first prize in a painting competition, which landed him a scholarship by the Italian government to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (The Academy of Fine Arts of Florence). While