LYON, France (A.W.)—According to preliminary reports, Georges Képénékian was elected Mayor of Lyon—France’s second-largest city—on July 17.
Georges Képénékia
Képénékian’s candidacy was proposed by former mayor Gerard Collomb, who was appointed as the country’s Interior M inister in May.
Born on Aug. 9, 1949, Képénékian is surgeon-urologist and the Director of Strategic Development at the Saint-Joseph Saint-Luc Hospital Center of Lyon since 2005. He has served as First Deputy Mayor of Lyon since 2014, and councilor for culture, major events, and citizens’ rights since 2008.
Képénékian is an active member of the Armenian community of France and a board member of the Bullukian Foundation of Lyon.
“[Képénékian] has been quite helpful to Armenian organizations,” Co-chair of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organization in France and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau member Franck Papazian told Armenia’s Yerkir news. “He has been a positive presence in Lyon and developed cultural policy there,” Papazian added.
Last month, four ethnic Armenians—Danielle Cazarian, Nadia Essayan, Guillaume Kasbarian, and Jacques Marilossian—were elected to France’s National Assembly on June 18. All four Members of Parliament (MP) represent newly elected President Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche (LREM), which won 308 seats with 43 percent of the vote.
Pascal Chamassian, A fifth French-Armenian candidate (LREM) was defeated by the pro-Armenian Valérie Boyer of the Republicans. On Dec. 2011, the National Assembly of France adopted a bill presented by Valérie Boyer, penalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide.