His Holiness Karekin I (Armenian: Գարեգին Ա. Հովսեփյան ) (17 December 1867, Nagorno-Karabakh - 21 June 1952, Beirut) was Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church from 1943-1952. Born Garegin Hovsepian and originally from Artsakh, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1909. In 1917 he was ordained bishop, though this did not keep him from participating in the Battle of Sardarapat (1918) and Battle of Kars (1921). Source: Avakian, Arra S. (1998). Armenia: A Journey Through History. The Electric Press, Fresno.