Kirakossian was born in Yerevan, the son of the historian and political scientist
John Kirakosyan. He received his bachelor's degree in History and Geography in 1977 and a master's degree in History of the
Armenian Question and International Diplomacy in 1980 from the Armenian State Pedagogical University. In November 1999, he earned the degree of Doctor of Sciences in History from the Institute of History of the
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Before embarking on a diplomatic career at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Kirakossian held several high-level academic positions at the National Academy of Sciences. He was Project Director at the Center of Scientific Information for Social Sciences from 1980 to 1986, then Senior Fellow and associate director of the Armenian Diaspora Studies Department from 1990 to 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he held the post of First Deputy Foreign Minister, and, from October 1992 to February 1993, served as Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. He held the diplomatic Rank of
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1992). From 1994 to 1999 Kirakossian was Armenia's
Ambassador to
Greece. He also assumed the duties of the
Dean of Diplomatic Corps in
Athens. Kirakossian was also accredited to
Cyprus,
Slovenia,
Croatia,
Albania and the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kirakossian served as Armenian Ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2005. He was also Permanent Observer of Armenia to the
Organization of American States from 2001. In 2005 he was appointed again as Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Kirakossian assumed his role as Ambassador to Austria and the
OSCE in 2011. From November 2018 he was appointed Ambassador to
United Kingdom. He died in Yerevan on 6 July 2019. ==Publications==