The 51st street of Arabkir will officially bear the name of Maria Jacobsen, a Danish missionary, philanthropist, and a great friend of the Armenian people. It was thanks to her that the lives of thousands of Armenian children were saved during the Genocide, and the Bird’s Nest orphanage became a second home for orphaned Armenian children.

Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Denmark to Armenia Anne Toft Sørensen opened the plaque bearing the name of Maria Jacobsen.

“Reflecting on the history of Armenia and the Armenian people, we often remember the trials that befell us and our ancestors. This is natural and right, because it is an integral and important part of our history. At the same time, we must remember the individuals who stood by our people in the most difficult times. The Armenian Genocide was perhaps the most difficult period in our history, and it was then that the Danish missionary Maria Jacobsen came to help the Armenian children, connecting her life with the Armenian people, becoming one of us,” Tigran Avinyan said.

“By naming one of the streets of Yerevan after Maria Jacobsen, we not only pay tribute to the friend of the Armenian people, but also enshrine her in the pages of our history,” he added. Avinyan thanked the descendants of Maria Jacobsen for attending the ceremony.

“It was an honor to participate in this moving inauguration of the “Maria Jabcobsen street” in Yerevan and meet her descendants and Yerevan city authorities. Maria, a Danish missionary, and her legacy is a testimony to Armenian-Danish historical ties and friendship,” Ambassador Anne Toft Sørensen said in a Twitter post.