George William Vari, (August 14, 1923 – December 9, 2010) was a Canadian real estate developer and philanthropist. Trained as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and economist in Hungary, he immigrated to Canada after the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. George Vari was born in

Szepes County Szepes ( sk, Spiš; la, Scepusium, pl, Spisz, german: link=no, Zips) was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, called Scepusium before the late 19th century. Its territory today lies in northeastern Slovakia, with a very small are ...

, Hungary, to lawyer Istvan Vari and Ida Vari in 1923. During World War II, George was able to flee to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1940, and he studied in Lausanne. After the war, he returned to Hungary and attended the University of Szeged and Budapest Technical University. Following the

, Vari left Hungary in 1957 and settled in Montreal. Vari had met Helen de Fabinyi in Hungary in 1950, and they were later married in Montreal in 1967. Cosmos Hotel, Moscow

Vari made his fortune in international real estate development, which included building the Tour Montparnasse in Paris, six of the pavilions at

Expo 1967 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

in Montreal, and Moscow's Cosmos Hotel. He was renowned for his outstanding record in philanthropy, particularly in the field of educational institutions, making significant endowments to Ryerson University, York University and the University of Toronto. York's

Vari Hall York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

is named after him, as are various scholarships and awards at these institutions. Ryerson University renamed its Centre for Computing and Engineering (completed in 2004) to the

George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre The George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre is a 4-story building that is part of Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Initially, in 2000, Santiago Calatrava proposed that the engineering building be 33 floors. The co ...

, following a $5 million donation in 2005. Vari and his wife operated the "George and Helen Vari Foundation" as a vehicle for much of their charitable works in Canada and internationally. In 1992, Vari was named to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. As a result, he became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and was entitled to be addressed as " The Honourable George Vari" for life. He was also named to the Order of Canada in 1989. In addition, both he and his wife were appointed to France's Legion of Honour.York University article
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Philanthropist George Vari was a major York supporter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vari, George 1923 births 2010 deaths Hungarian emigrants to Canada Members of the Order of Canada Recipients of the Legion of Honour Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Canadian philanthropists Canadian economists 20th-century philanthropists Hungarian expatriates in Switzerland

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