Over the course of three decades, I had the honor of meeting Robert Morgenthau many times. First as an undergraduate, and then as a graduate student, at Columbia University, I would watch as he carried on the legacy of his grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., America's Ambassador at Constantinople during World War I.

Ambassador Morgenthau documented the systematic attempt to annihilate the Armenian people under the cover of the Great War, writing that the Ottoman Empire had embarked on a campaign of “race extermination,” a term used more than a generation before the coining of the word “genocide.” Robert Morgenthau talked often of his grandfather's mission to denounce this terrible crime against humanity. He would appear at rallies held annually at Time Square to commemorate the over one million Armenian victims who died between 1915 and 1923.

I last spoke to Mr. Morgenthau in 2009 at the opening of “The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service,” an exhibit held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan. I loaned several items to the exhibit relating to Ambassador Morgenthau, and Mr. Morgenthau remarked that he was still humbled when Armenians from all over the world would approach him about his grandfather's heroic service to the Armenian people. Mr. Morgenthau graciously inscribed to me a copy of his grandfather's book “Ambassador Morgenthau's Story,” a title that holds a very special place in my heart.

Robert Morgenthau rightly deserves his numerous accolades for his outstanding contributions to the city and bar of New York, but he also deserves recognition as a fierce advocate for human rights, calling rhetoric to account and advancing the rallying cry of “Never again” for all victims of genocide.

Mark A. Momjian, Momjian Anderer, LLC