1. Gerard Leon Cafesjian was a businessman and philanthropist who founded the Cafesjian Family Foundation, the Cafesjian Museum Foundation and the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.
16 Facts About Gerard Cafesjian
1. 2.
Gerard Cafesjian's parents had immigrated to the United States preceding the Armenian genocide by the Turks.
3.
Gerard Cafesjian served aboard the USS Andres, a destroyer escort for convoys from the United States to North Africa in late 1944 and 1945.
4.
Gerard Cafesjian earned a degree in economics from Cornell University and a doctorate of jurisprudence from Columbia Law School, both in five and a half years.
5.
Gerard Cafesjian was a member of the New York Bar Association.
6.
Gerard Cafesjian began his career with West Publishing as a legal editor in New York City.
7.
Gerard Cafesjian was the first employee in the history of the 100-year-old company to be transferred into the home offices in St Paul, Minnesota.
8.
Gerard Cafesjian retired from West Publishing when it was sold to Thompson Publishing in 1996.
9.
Gerard Cafesjian's investments included the private Armenia TV and ArmNews television stations, the Cascade financial services group, real estate and a renewable energy company, all eventually sold.
10.
Gerard Cafesjian donated to the Armenia Fund USA, the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian National Committee of America, and others.
11.
Gerard Cafesjian was the owner of The Armenian Reporter, the oldest independent Armenian American publication.
12.
Gerard Cafesjian received accolades and recognition from both the US and Armenia institutions, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2000 and COAF Save a Generation Award in 2010.
13.
Gerard Cafesjian completely renovated the Cascade site in downtown Yerevan, Armenia.
14.
From 2000 to 2003, Gerard Cafesjian assembled a group of properties in Washington, DC, two blocks from the White House, with the intention to build an Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.
15.
Gerard Cafesjian married Cleo Thomas, a nurse he met during World War II, on July 4,1947, and together they had three children.
16.
Gerard Cafesjian died on September 15,2013, at the age of 88.