Alen Simonyan was born on January 5, 1980, in Yerevan. He graduated from Secondary School No. 20 named after Felix Dzerzhinsky. In 2000, he earned a degree from the Faculty of Law at Yerevan State University. In 2008, Simonyan completed training courses in “PR and Political Technologies” organized by the European Education & Research Center. Between 2013 and 2015, he pursued studies at the Faculty of Political Science of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the Republic of Armenia, earning a Master’s Degree in Political Science. From 2000 to 2002, he served in the Armed Forces of Armenia, holding the rank of sergeant.

Acting carrier

In 1995–1996, Alen Simonyan was a member of the KVN team [Russian comedy show “Club of the Funny and Inventive”] representing the Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas, winning the title of Champion of the Armenian League. From 2004 to 2008, he appeared in the TV series Prison Break and Hippocratic Oath, and was involved in managing and producing various television projects. He served as the line producer of the fiction film Ala Ba Lan Nica and directed the stage performance No Comment.

Work and Business Experience

Alen Simonyan worked at the First Instance Court of the Ajapnyak-Davtashen Communities, serving as Assistant to the Chairman and Secretary of the Staff. In 2003, he joined Converse Bank as an HR Manager. In 2004, he founded Cicilia, the first Mafia Game Club of its kind in Armenia, and remained its owner until 2010.

Radio

Host of popular radio programs Felicita and That Can’t Be True on City FM Radio Station.

Television and Show Business

From 2007 to 2012, he collaborated with TV5 as a director-producer of TV series and broadcaster; with Yerkir Media as a broadcaster; and with Armenia TV as an actor. He also produced numerous music videos, political promos, and pre-election campaign clips.

Since 2013, Simonyan has been the Editor-in-Chief and founder of Ararat Media Group LLC, which publishes the araratnews.am website and Ararat magazine.

Political and Public Activity

Simonyan began his political and public activity on March 1, 2008. He has since authored and published a number of articles and commentaries.

During the 2013 presidential elections, he supported the Leader of the Heritage Party, Raffi Hovhannisyan. On May 5 of the same year, he ran for a seat on the Yerevan Council of Elders, representing the “Hello Yerevan” Alliance. In July, he took part in the “Car Free” civil protest against the increase in public transport fares.

Since 2013, he has been a member of the management board of the “Civil Contract” public-political union, founded by Nikol Pashinyan. On May 30, 2015, he was elected to the Board of the “Civil Contract” Party. On June 17, 2015, he was elected as the Speaker of the Party.

From 2017 to 2018, he was a member of the Yerevan Council of Elders, representing the Way Out Alliance. Since May 16, 2018, he has been a member of the National Assembly of Armenia.

In the early parliamentary elections on December 9, 2018, Simonyan, as one of the high-ranking candidates of the “Way Out” Alliance from electoral district #4 (which includes the administrative districts of Yerevan – Kentron, Nork-Marash, Erebuni, and Nubarashen), received 21,949 votes.

On January 10, 2019, Simonyan received a seat in the parliament. On January 15 of the same year, during the session of the 7th convocation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, he was elected Vice Chairman of the National Assembly. On June 16, at the 5th congress of the Civil Contract Party, Simonyan was elected as a member of the Party Board.

On August 2, 2021, Alen Simonyan was elected Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia.

On January 23, 2022, President of Armenia Armen Sargsyan submitted his resignation. As a result, Alen Simonyan assumed the role of interim president and began officially fulfilling his duties on February 1, as Sargsyan did not retract his resignation a week later. On March 3, Simonyan congratulated the newly elected president, Vahagn Khachaturyan.