J. Michael Hagopian Ph. D.

Thousand Oaks civic leader, filmmaker and founding president of the Conejo Valley Historical Society J. Michael Hagopian died Dec. 10 in his home. Born in Kharpert, Turkey on October 20, 1913, he was 97.

A major force in the formative years of the city, Hagopian was active in the incorporation of Thousand Oaks, served on many civic committees and managed the successful political campaigns for numerous city council members.

Shortly after arriving in the Conejo Valley in 1963, Hagopian saw a newspaper article about a meeting scheduled to save the 87 year-old Stagecoach Inn, which stood in the path of the Ventura Freeway. Interested in historical preservation, Hagopian attended the meeting. His attendance was fortunate. Instrumental in forming the Conejo Valley Historical Society, he became its founding president, and with the support of the building’s owner, Allen Hayes, and the Conejo Recreation and Park District had the edifice declared a California Historic Landmark saving it from destruction. Once given landmark status, the building qualified for Caltrans funds and was relocated to Ventu Park Road.

Committed to serving his new community, Hagopian founded and became the first chairman of the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board, a member of the President’s Advisory Council at California Lutheran College, chairman of the City of Thousand Oaks Open Space Committee, and a member of the city’s Master Plan Development Committee and Bicentennial Commission, whose efforts resulted in the construction of the Tri-Village Complex at the Stagecoach Inn Museum.

An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Hagopian received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from UC Berkeley and then went on to Harvard University to earn another masters and a Ph.D. in Government and International Relations. After serving in the US Army Air Corps during World War II, he taught at several universities including Benares Hindu University, India, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, UCLA and Oregon State University. While teaching, he discovered a lack of good films to show his classes, and concluded that he could produce better documentaries.

With additional training in film studies at USC, he embarked on a new career as writer, filmmaker and producer. Hagopian’s 70 educational and documentary films have garnered 160 national and international awards including two Emmy nominations.

In 1952 he founded Atlantis Productions, Inc, and as its president created award-winning films about the peoples and cultures of India, Nigeria, the Middle East as well as Native Americans.

During his filmmaking expeditions, Hagopian trekked 1,500 miles to the source of the Ganges River becoming the first man to film in color the entire length of the river to the holy source. For this and other remarkable adventures, he was invited to join the prestigious Explorer’s Club, New York, and Adventurer’s Club, Los Angeles. He was an active member of Thousand Oaks Rotary and later, because of his exemplary contributions, was awarded an honorary membership.

A survivor of the Armenian Genocide, Hagopian became compelled to document witness testimonies to the 1915 extermination of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government. Over a 40-year period, he traveled around the world to film nearly 400 witnesses and survivors. The importance of this task – to preserve these historical testimonies for posterity – led to the founding of the Armenian Film Foundation in 1979. Hagopian, with four others, established the non-profit organization dedicated to the documentation of motion pictures of Armenian heritage and life.

In April of this year The USC Shoah Foundation Institute persuaded the Armenian Film Foundation and Hagopian to include the eye witness accounts of the Armenian Genocide in their extensive Holocaust internet data base.

Hagopian is survived by his wife, Antoinette; children James Michael, Maui, Hawaii; Joanne, Berkeley, Calif.; David, Thousand Oaks; and William, Honolulu, Hawaii; and five grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2 p.m. in Samuelson Chapel on the campus of California Lutheran University. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Armenian Film Foundation or the Conejo Valley Historical Society.