Gerard Leon Cafesjian ( hy, Ջերարդ Լեւոն Գաֆէսճեան, 26 April 1925 – 15 September 2013) was a businessman and philanthropist who founded the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF), the Cafesjian Museum Foundation (CMF) and the

Cafesjian Center for the Arts Officially, Cafesjian Center for the Arts (CCA, Armenian: (Gafesčyan arvesti kentron), also known as the Cafesjian Museum Foundation) is an art museum in Yerevan, Armenia. It is located at the central Kentron District, in and around the Yerevan C ...

Early years, military service and professional career

Cafesjian was born on April 26, 1925, in the

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. His parents had immigrated to the United States preceding the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

by the Turks. After amphibious training, he served as a sailor in World War II aboard

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

's yacht, the ''Corsair III'', built in 1895 and renamed the USS ''Oceanographer''.The ship did extensive survey work in and around Guadalcanal and other

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

in 1943 and 1944. He also served aboard the USS ''Andres'' (DE45), a destroyer escort for convoys from the United States to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

in late 1944 and 1945. When he returned after the war he married Cleo Thomas, a nurse he met during the war. Cafesjian earned a degree in economics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and a doctorate of jurisprudence from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, both in five and a half years. He was a member of the New York Bar Association. He began his career with

West Publishing West (also known by its original name, West Publishing) is a business owned by Thomson Reuters that publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West h ...

as a legal editor in New York City. He was the first employee in the history of the 100-year-old company to be transferred into the home offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. At West Publishing he rose through the ranks to the position of executive vice president, overseeing sales, marketing, customer service, public relations, and all Westlaw office training and development. At West, he conceived of and started the West Legal Directory and a well-known program, "Art and the Law", which earned him and West numerous awards.

Philanthropic projects

Cafesjian retired from West Publishing when it was sold to Thompson Publishing in 1996. As he said publicly, he felt his destiny was to help the country of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, which had gained its independence after hundreds of years of subjugation under various rulers. The time and circumstances and confluence of resources would help him make a difference for the country. After attending to his family needs, he established the Cafesjian Family Foundation. Through the foundation, he devoted more than $128 million to various Armenian projects. His 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. Any profits generated were re-invested in Armenia for further development. In the United States, Cafesjian helped restore a dismantled historic carousel for Como Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, and founded the

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in the state of Arizona is a museum in the Old Town district of downtown Scottsdale, Arizona. The museum is dedicated to exhibiting modern works of art, design and architecture. The Museum has four ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. He also donated to the Armenia Fund USA, the

Armenian Assembly of America The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The organization aims to "strengthen United States/Armenia relations, promote Armenia's democr ...

, the

Armenian General Benevolent Union The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...

, the

Armenian National Committee of America The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) ( hy, Ամերիկայի Հայ դատի յանձնախումբ) an Armenian American grassroots organization. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and it has regional offices in Glendale, Ca ...

, and others. He was also the owner of '' The Armenian Reporter'', the oldest independent Armenian American publication. Cafesjian received accolades and recognition from both the U.S. and Armenia institutions, including the

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

in 2000 and COAF Save a Generation Award in 2010.

Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan

Cafesjian completely renovated the Cascade site in downtown

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

, Armenia. As of the early 2000s, it was an unfinished and crumbling

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

structure of epic proportions on a hillside. Following a major reconstruction, the Cascade became the site of the

that opened in 2009. The museum has a sculpture garden with works by Fernando Botero,

Lynn Chadwick Lynn Russell Chadwick, (24 November 1914 – 25 April 2003) was an English sculptor and artist. Much of his work is semi-abstract sculpture in bronze or steel. His work is in the collections of MoMA in New York, the Tate in London and the ...

Barry Flanagan Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish-Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares and other animals. Biography Barry Flanagan was born on 11 January 1941 in Prestatyn, North Wales. F ...

, François-Xavier Lalanne and

Jaume Plensa Jaume Plensa i Suñé (; born 23 August 1955) is a Spanish visual artist, sculptor, designer and engraver. He is a versatile artist who has also created opera sets, video projections and acoustic installations. He worked with renowned Catalan t ...

, among others. Over one million people have visited the Center since its opening.

Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial in Washington

From 2000 to 2003, Cafesjian assembled a group of properties in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, two blocks from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, with the intention to build an Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial. But due to continuing litigation, the project remains unrealized. Although Cafesjian won the basic lawsuit in January 2011 and was awarded the property, and subsequent motions for new trial were dismissed, the project is still in limbo awaiting the Court to rule on yet another appeal.

Personal life

Gerard Cafesjian married Cleo Thomas, a nurse he met during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, on July 4, 1947, and together they had three children. Gerard's eldest son, Tommy Cafesjian, was a real estate magnate based out of Philadelphia. Gerard Cafesjian died on September 15, 2013, at the age of 88. His wife Cleo Cafesjian had died just a few months earlier, on March 7, 2013.

References

External links

Cafesjian Family Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafesjian, Gerard 1925 births 2013 deaths People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Businesspeople from Brooklyn Armenian American Ethnic Armenian businesspeople Ethnic Armenian philanthropists Cornell University alumni Columbia Law School alumni American book publishers (people) 20th-century American philanthropists