Nouneh Sarkissian
Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.
Japanese proverb
Nouneh Sarkissian was born in Yerevan, Armenia. After graduating from Yerevan State University, she worked at the Matenadaran, one of the world’s premier research institutes of ancient manuscripts. In 1991 she moved with her family to London, where she obtained an MA in History of Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London.
In addition to writing prolifically on art, music and culture, Nouneh has published more than 20 books of stories for children. Her children’s books translated into Arabic, Italian, Georgian, Russian, Uzbek and Ukrainian have gained huge popularity among young readers in Europe and beyond.
One of her books -Three Dragons- was among the final 300 winners (the final 15%) in 2006 Write A Story For Children competition of The Academy of Children’s Writers in the UK.
Following her husband’s advice, who has become the President of Armenia in April 2018, Nouneh has arranged the translation of some of her books into dialects of Armenian language -Western Armenian, as well as different local dialects of Armenia – and donated all the books to the regional schools, nurseries and communities. Armenian is a pluricentric language, having two modern standardized forms: Eastern Armenian spoken in Armenia, and Western Armenian spoken in the Diaspora, as well as numerous dialects of Armenia).
Some of her fairy tales have been turned into puppet shows and are successfully presented at the Hovhannes Toumanian Puppet Theatre and The State Marionette Theatre in Yerevan.
Nouneh has successfully initiated and produced the story of the bald hedgehog at Yerevan College of Choreograophy in 2019 and 2020 with the participation of the college students, as a one act ballet for very young audience. The music was written by a young composer Grig Balasanian and performed by Armenian State Symphony Orchestra of Sergey Smbatyan.
From 2000 to 2005 Nouneh was managing the Manoukian Cultural Centre at St. Yeghiche’s Armenian Church, in London.
For many years Nouneh dedicated her time and energy to international and Armenian charities, raising funds through concerts of classical music, inviting famous musicians, choirs and orchestras for good causes.
Nouneh returned to her love for music and formed a partnership with Steinway putting on concerts for aspiring and talented musicians at home in London, including a piano recital by Kit Armstrong, 23, whom she has supported since the age of 15.
Parallel to this, she continued writing for children. She wrote in one of her recent interviews: ‘Our world is complicated. It is becoming more and more difficult to preserve moral values in such a complex environment for very young minds. It is extremely important priority for my generation to present to the young generation of our children and in my case – grandchildren, values like kindness, love, family, friendship through books and word of mouth. It is important to teach them not to be lazy and to have goals and to have dreams in their lives. That is why I spend a lot of time visiting schools for talks and workshops with children. Good moral and disciplinary values are shaped in human beings at the very early age, during childhood, that’s why it is utmost important to pay more attention to the education of children at nurseries and schools. The world of children is different. It is not easy to write for them. One has to look at things through their prism and keep them interested in books, having the huge flow of electronic and media information around them. I find inspiration for my books in the world of children, who I love.’
In 2021, Book One of her The Adventures of Bluey and Pinky series was distinguished for excellence and nominated by the International Board on Books for Young People for the IBBY Honour list 2022 as an ‘outstanding book’. Her works have also been selected for inclusion among the top picture books chosen by librarians of the International Federation of Library Associations for the World Through Picture Books programme.
Her mother was a teacher and her father a writer. Nouneh “who was brought up in a book”, has written more than 20 books for children, is a mother and grandmother, a supporter and author of works of arts and culture, and an artist herself.
In the Soviet society, where Nouneh was raised, children were brought up to appreciate culture and to study and comprehend the importance of the written word in society. Nouneh’s love of language and her relationship with words, music and books fostered an early interest in performance and at the age of seven years old she studied music and drama alongside school life. At eight she wrote to a local radio station requesting an audience with the producers in order to obtain a working role there. This bold approach, seeking to contribute to and be a part of a medium she loved, has stayed with her ever since.
In 1971 Nouneh entered the Department of Romano-Germanic languages at Yerevan State University to study foreign languages and literature for five years. Following this, she worked at Matenadaran, the Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. Nouneh married Armen Sarkissian, a professor of physics in 1978. They have two sons, Vartan and Hayk and three grandchildren. Savannah, Nouneh’s granddaughter, is a constant creative source and inspiration to her childrens’ books. Together they published three books about the Blue Hippopotamus and Pink Mouse.
The family moved to England in 1991.
In 1992 she went on to study for a Master’s Degree in 20th century Modern Art at Goldsmiths’ College, London University, her thesis being Arshile Gorky, the founder Abstract Expressionism in America. With her husband, Armen Sarkissian, the former Armenian Ambassador, former Armenian Prime minister 1996-1997 and former president of Armenia, they supported the retrospective exhibition of Gorky’s work at the Tate Modern in 2010.
Nouneh was the Cultural Counsellor and then Chargé d’Affaires at the Armenian Embassy in the UK. Her role with the Embassy has seen her provide a platform for many artists as well as contributing to some extraordinary and diverse exhibitions such as; Fabergé which she helped to transfer from the Kremlin to Las Vegas, through to ‘Symbols and Mysteries: Art in Transition’ in Kensington, London.
In between the worlds of Art, Culture and writing Nouneh draws and paints. Her work varies from highly vibrant, colourful paintings to stark and complex images in black ink on parchment paper. She had her first exhibition at Everard Reed Gallery in London in 2017.
Nouneh is now a Redfern Gallery artist. She exhibited her pieces at the Gallery in 2024 in Crosscurrents: Armenia-London. Since then she participated in the Summer exhibitions of the Gallery in 2025 and 2026 and at the inaugural exhibition Then and Now at the new address on Pall Mall in 2026.
Nouneh’s numerous abstract pieces were exhibited In the showroom of ‘ Linley’ on Pimlico Road in London from March 2025 to June 2026.
Nouneh’s abstract paintings were presented by Redfern Gallery at London Art Fair in 2025 and 2026.
In 2008 Nouneh was awarded with the St. Gregory the Illuminator medal by His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
In July 2018 Nouneh was awarded with the highest-ranking honour of the Republic of Italy – Cavaliere di Gran Croce (Dame of Grand Cross) – for ‘merit by the nation’ in the fields of literature and arts.
In November 2018 Nouneh was honoured with the Global Inspiration Leadership Award on the 6th South America-Africa-Middle East-Asia Women Summit-SAMEAWS Dubai-UAE 2018.
On December 11, 2019, Nouneh Sarkissian has become a UNICEF High Level Advocate for children.
Armenian PR Association’s award ‘Woman of The Year’ was given to Nouneh Sarkissian on December 23, 2019. According to the Chairperson of the association, conducted public research has proved, that ‘The society appreciates the activity of Nouneh Sarkissian, especially her constant attention to disabled children and those suffering from autism.’
Nouneh Sarkissian lives in London and Yerevan.
