Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan was born Nerses Tavookjian in 1904 in Antep, Cilicia, the son of Archpriest Nerses Tavookjian and Anitza Sulahian Tavookjian.
He received his early education at the Vardanian School in Antep. During the first World War he was deported to the deserts of Syria with his parents, three sisters and one brother. After the heroic battle for the defense of Antep, his parents settled in Aleppo.
In 1921, he entered the Seminary of St. James in Jerusalem. After his graduation from the Seminary in 1924, he was ordained sub-deacon and was appointed as an instructor in the Armenian Public School which was administered by the monastery.
On October 4, 1926, he was ordained Archdeacon. While pursuing his theological studies, he was also appointed to teach at the Seminary.
He was ordained a priest by Patriarch Elysee Tourian on July 22, 1928, and renamed Fr. Tiran and also given the surname of Nersoyan, after his grandfather Nerso.
Under the auspices of the Patriarchate, Fr. Tiran left for England, where he studied for two years; first at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, Yorkshire, and then at King's College in London.
After his return to Jerusalem in 1930, Fr. Tiran became an instructor at the Seminary and Divinity School where he taught classical Armenian, theology, church history, and exegesis. He was also assigned to various administrative duties at the Patriarchate. In 1932 he was appointed dean of the Seminary and School of Divinity in Jerusalem.
After leaving Jerusalem for new assignments as vicar in Paris (1938-39) and as pastor of the St. Sarkis Church of London (1940-1944), serving during the bombardments of World War II.
Upon the appointment of Archbishop Garegian Hovsepiantz, then-Primate of the Diocese in America, to the seat of Catholicate of Cilicia, the Diocesan Assembly elected Fr. Tiran Nersoyan as Primate in 1943. Due to wartime difficulties, he did not arrive in the United States until 1944.
In 1945, he traveled to Etchmiadzin to attend the election and enthronement of the Catholicos. While in Etchmiadzin, Fr. Tiran was consecrated a Bishop. During his return, he visited several major cities of the Near East, where young people expressed a desire to enter into a life of service to the Armenian Church. With the help of many donors in America, namely Mr. and Mrs. Alex Manoogian of Detroit, several of these young men were brought to America to study in preparation for joining the priesthood. Within just nine years, 21 new clergymen were added to the Diocesan parishes.
In 1946, through Bishop Tiran's efforts, the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA) was formed. That same year, he helped organize the Cathedral and Cultural Center Project, motivating the long-standing effort to build an Armenian-style cathedral in New York City.
In 1947, he was instrumental in founding the Association of Armenian Church Choirs of America (AACCA).
He was reelected Primate in 1949, as the Diocese marked the 50th anniversary of its founding. He was elevated to the rank of Archbishop in 1951 by His Holiness Georg VI, Catholicos of All Armenians. Elected to a third term in 1953, he served until May 1954, when he returned to Jerusalem and then Beirut. He was named locum tenens of the Patriarchate in Jerusalem in 1956. He was elected Patriarch in 1957, but was forced out of the country because of geopolitics.
In 1960 he returned to New York, where he founded the St. Nerses Seminary, where he served as a lecturer and honorary president until his death. On the invitation of His Holiness Vasken I, he participated in the committee work to establish a new constitution for the Armenian Church. He also participated in the unofficial consultation between the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and similar dialogues between the Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church.
He passed away in 1989, and four years later his remains were transferred to Jerusalem and interred in the Holy Saviour Monastic Cemetery on September 13, 1993.