Art and Architecture at Tufts University. Jack Kevorkian was a controversial pathologist and euthanasia activist commonly known as "Dr. Death", whose parents were Armenian immigrants. His father, Levon, was born in the village of Passen, near Erzurum, and his mother, Satenig, was born in the village of Govdun, near Sivas. Dr. Moses Housepian, an Armenian-American physician born in the Armenian village of Kessab in Syria, was a medical relief worker in Russian Armenia during the Armenian genocide. His son Dr. Edgar Housepian was a neurosurgeon, educator, and co-founder of the Fund for Armenian Relief. Politicians A number of Armenians have entered into politics. The first Armenian to hold a high position office was Republican Steven Derounian, a Bulgarian-born Armenian, represented New York from 1953 to 1965 in the House of Representatives. George Deukmejian became the Republican governor of California in 1983 and left the office in 1991. Previously he had served as state assemblyman (1963–1967), state senator (1967–1979) and California Attorney General (1979–1983). A number of Armenian Americans have been elected to state legislatures, especially in California. In Massachusetts, George Keverian served as a representative in the State House, eventually becoming its speaker from 1985 to 1991. Paul Robert Ignatius served as the US Secretary of the Navy from 1967 to 1969 in the Lyndon Johnson's administration. Ken Khachigian was the chief speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. He is also known for Reagan's characterization of 1915 events as "genocide" in 1981. Diplomat Edward Djerejian was the US ambassador in Syria then Israel in the 1990s. Harry Tutunjian was the Republican mayor of Troy, New York from 2003 to 2012. Bill Paparian was elected to the Pasadena City Council in 1987 and became mayor in 1995. Joe Simitian had been a California state senator since 2004, while Paul Krekorian was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2010 from District 2, where the Armenian population of Los Angeles is concentrated. Currently, two congresswoman of Armenian ancestry, Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, are in the office, both Democrats from California. A small number of Armenian Americans moved to Armenia in the early 1990s, some becoming notable in their ancestral homeland. Raffi Hovannisian, a Fresno-born third-generation Armenian American lawyer, moved to Armenia in 1991 and soon was appointed the first foreign minister of Armenia, where he remained until 1992. Today, Hovannisian is a major opposition figure in Armenia and the leader of