Henrikh Mkhitaryan was born on January 22, 1989 in Kentron district of Armenian capital Yerevan to Marina Taschian and Hamlet Mkhitaryan, a prominent striker of FC Ararat Yerevan during the 1980s, who died of a brain tumour when Henrikh was only 7 years old. His mother is the head of the national teams department in the Armenian Football Federation and his elder sister, Monica, works at UEFA's headquarters. He speaks five languages: Armenian, Russian, English, French and Portuguese.
He is an Armenian football midfielder, who currently plays for Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. Mkhitaryan was chosen Armenian Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2011. He was also voted as the best Shakhtar player of 2011-12 season by the fans. Mkhitaryan is also a member of the Armenian national team, participated in 33 international matches and scored 8 goals since his debut in an away friendly match against Panama on January 14, 2007. His previous clubs include Pyunik Yerevan, where he came through the youth system, and Metalurh Donetsk.
Mkhitaryan joined the Pyunik FC youth system in 1995 and was later promoted to the first team of Pyunik FC, making his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 17. He last played for the club in the 2009 season. During that season he scored 11 league goals in 10 league games. Due to his success in the Armenian Premier League 2009 at Pyunik Yerevan, he joined Ukrainian Premier League club Metalurh Donetsk. In his four seasons in the Pyunik first team they won the Armenian Premier League on four occasions (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). They also won the Armenian Supercup twice (2007 and 2009) and the Armenian Cup once (2009). In total he managed 70 league appearances for the club with 30 goals and 89 total appearances with 35 goals.
On 2 August he scored the first goal in a 4:1 victory against Hoverla. On 6 August he scored the first goal in a 3:0 second leg Europa League win against Slovenian Interblock Ljubljana, winning 5:0 on aggregate. On 27 August he scored a goal in a 3:2 loss to Austrian side Austria Wien in a Europa League play-off match. On 26 September he scored the only goal in a 1:0 league victory against Kryvbas.
On 19 March he scored the equalising goal in a 1:1 draw with Dynamo Kyiv. On 11 April he netted a goal in a 4:0 victory against Illichivets Mariupol. He netted a goal in a 3:2 extra time loss to Tavriya Simferopol in the final of the Ukrainian Cup on 16 May. He finished the season with 14 goals in 38 appearances, including 29 league matches and 9 goals. During the season 2010-11 Mkhitaryan was bought for $7.5 million by the champions Shakhtar Donetsk. His debut came on 10 September in a 1:0 away league defeat to Obolon Kyiv, being replaced after 62 minutes by Eduardo. His home debut was more successful, with Shakhtar coming back from a goal behind to win 4:1 against Tavriya Simferopol on 19 September. He scored his first goal for the club in this match. Three days later he made his first appearance in the Ukrainian Cup, netting the second goal in a 6:0 win over Kryvbas. On 25 September he scored a late injury time winner in a 2:1 away victory over Metalist Kharkiv. He made his European debut for the club in the Champions League on 28 September against Sporting Braga winning 3:0. On 20 March he scored a goal in Shakhtar's 4:0 win against Volyn Lutsk. He made an appearance in the 2:0 Ukrainian Cup Final victory against Dynamo Kyiv, coming on in the 81st minute in place of Jádson. His first season with the club was extremely successful for Shakhtar as they won the treble.
The following season he was named captain of the club on July 14, at the age 21, making him the youngest captain in Metalurh Donetsk history. He scored his first goal, an 89th minute penalty, in a 3:0 victory over Obolon Kyiv on 16 July. On 24 July he netted a consolation goal in a 2:1 defeat to Tavriya Simferopol. On 21 August he scored the second goal in a 2:0 victory over Vorskla Poltava. He played his final match for the club in a 2:1 win against Dnipro on 30 August. In his second season he played 8 matches and scored 3 goals, all of which were in the league. He made 37 league appearances during his time at Metalurh, scoring 12 goals. In total he played 46 matches for the club, scoring 17 times. On 30 August he sealed a $7.5 million switch to reigning Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
On 2 December he scored in Shakhtar's 5:0 victory over Arsenal Kyiv On 11 December he scored the second goal in a 4:0 victory over Kryvbas. On 4 March he scored the equalising goal in a 1:1 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. He scored the only goal in a cup victory over Metalurh Zaporizhya on 11 April. On 16 April he scored twice in Shakhtar's 5:1 away victory over Zorya Luhansk. On 6 May he played a part in Shakhtar's 2:1 extra time victory over his former team Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final, coming off after 62 minutes for Douglas Costa. On 10 May he netted the second goal in a 3:0 league victory over Oleksandriya. In the 2011-12 season Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup. Mkhitaryan scored the third goal in a 4:0 win against Obolon Kyiv in his first league match of the season. On 28 August he netted a goal in a 2:2 league draw with Chornomorets Odesa. He scored a consolation goal in Shakhtar's 2:1 home league defeat over Metalist Kharkiv on 23 October. On 27 November he scored the final goal in a 5:0 away win over Karpaty Lviv.
In an online poll on Shakhtar Donetsk official website, Mkhitaryan was voted as the best player of Shakhtar in 2011-2012 Premier League season with about 38% of total votes. He scored 11 goals in 36 matches, including 10 goals in 28 matches. Shakhtar retained the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011-12 season.
He assisted Luiz Adriano for the third goal in Shakhtar's 3:1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv. He scored Shakhtar's second goal in a 3:0 league victory over Zorya Luhansk on 15 September. On 19 September, in Shakhtar's first Champions League match of the season, Mkhitaryan scored twice in a 2:0 victory over Danish champions Nordsjælland. This was the first time he had scored a goal in the Champions League and he was named Man of the Match. He was also named in the Team of the Week for matchday 1 of the Champions League after his brace against Nordsjælland. On 28 September he scored the opening goal in a 2:1 victory against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. In 2012 Mkhitaryan was named in UEFA's Top 100 players.
Mkhitaryan is one of the most important members of the Armenia national team. He debuted in an away friendly match against Panama on January 14, 2007. Mkhitaryan played in 2:0 2012 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk. He got off to a blistering start in the 2012-2013 Premier League season, netting twice and getting two assists in a 6:0 season opening victory against Arsenal Kyiv. He scored another goal in the 3:1 victory over Hoverla Uzhhorod, two in a 4:0 victory over Volyn Lutsk and a further two, as well as an assist, in the 4:1 defeat of Vorskla Poltava. He managed a hat trick against Chornomorets Odesa in a 5:1 win to reach 10 goals for the season after just six games, equalling his tally for the previous season. He scored another goal in the next match against Karpaty Lviv in a 3:0 victory, extending his scoring streak to four games and scoring his 11th goal in 7 league matches. He scored six goals for Armenia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group B, thus becoming top goalscorer in that group.
As of October 12, 2012, Mkhitaryan is the second top goalscorer of all time with 9 goals, after Arthur Petrosyan who has 11 goals in 70 matches.
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