Ruben Manukyan was born July 2, 1940 in Yerevan, Armenia. He graduated from the P. Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts in 1960, and furthered his artistic education by attending the Institute of Art and Theater, graduating in 1965.

From 1962 to 1980, he used his artistic talents as the head of the illustration department for the “Avangard” newspaper. During that time he held his first one-man show in Beirut, followed by two other solo exhibitions, and was featured alongside other Armenian artists for an exhibition in Kjoln, Germany.