His father, Levon, was a principal in a school and also worked in the Etchmiadzin monastery, where he was in charge of the library collections.

Aslanian travelled to Tabriz, where in 1923 he married Louise Grigorian, more than ten years younger than him.

In 1923, the couple moved to Paris, taking with them Mania and Arshaluys (Louise's mother and sister, respectively).

In order to let her do that, Aslanian, an educated lawyer, who was unable to practice in a foreign country, became a general laborer.

The Aslanians worked in an underground publishing house and actively engaged in supplying fighters of the French Resistance with weapons.