Aghassi was born in Anjar, a small Armenian village in Lebanon. He showed precocious talent at a very young age and was encouraged to pursue a formal education in the fine arts. In 1981, Aghassi began his formal training at the Panos Terlemezian Art Academy in Yerevan, Armenia. Political unrest forced Aghassi to flee Armenia in 1983, cutting his fine arts education at the university short. Aghassi moved to Italy in 1986, where he continued his studies at the Academia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Aghassi spent the next ten years in Italy perfecting his painting and sculpting skills. His works now distinctly display a romantic fashion, deeply inspired by and humbly compared to the Renaissance masters.