Lily Vorperian

Lily Vorperian (born 1919) is a Syrian-born Armenian American embroiderer known for her work in Marash-style embroidery, for which she was given a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1990s.

Embroidery Vorperian first learnt embroidery when she was twelve and she was given a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994. flowers, geometric designs, the Armenian alphabet,

In 1995, Vorperian's art was put on display alongside two other Armenian artists at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science. The exhibit was called "In Silver and Threads: Patterns of Armenian Tradition" and was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Armenian National Committee of America, and the Armenian Studies program at California State University.

In 2022, her son, Hratch Vorperian, published a book dedicated to her embroidery.

Personal life Born Lily Kambourian in Aleppo, Syria, she was the youngest of three children in an Armenian family from Marash. Kambourian grew up in an Armenian refugee community Haroutioun died in 1953, and Lily Vorperian was forced to sell her belongings to look after their children.

Vorperian moved to Beirut in 1964, and was forced to move to the United States in 1978 due to the Lebanese Civil War. She eventually settled in Glendale, California.