Matild Manukyan
Matild Manukyan (1914 - February 17, 2001) was a wealthy Turkish woman of Armenian descent who made her fortune as a brothel owner in Istanbul before entering the real property business.
She was born 1914 in Istanbul into an Armenian aristocrat family. After finishing the French language high school for girls Notre Dame de Sion School, she opened an haute couture atelier serving socialites. Soon, she lost her husband and had to live with her son alone.
Matild Manukyan leased the buildings in the red-light district of Karaköy neighborhood in Istanbul, she inherited from her father, to brothel owners. In the following years, she developed her ownership up to 14 licensed brothels. Matild Manukyan was once accused of employing underaged prostitutes.
She invested her opulent earnings from the sex business further in real property. Matild Manukyan became the top tax payer in Istanbul for five consecutive years in the 1990s, and was awarded for that by the revenue authority. She displayed her collection of certificates and recognition items she received from the authorities, in her home in Şişli, she called the "M&M Museum".
In an interview, she revealed that "she owns around 70 business centers and 500 apartments in Istanbul, 200 in Yalova, three five-star hotels in Antalya and Alanya, 10 villas in Girne, Northern Cyprus and a factory in Istanbul in export business". She added that "she was building a hotel in Germany with 100 beds". She also ran a fleet of around 220 taxis.[1] Luxury living Manukyan had also a Rolls-Royce car, four top model Mercedes and BMW cars, and an 18 m yacht in the Kalamış Marina, Istanbul.
She died on February 17, 2001 in Istanbul, and was buried in the Armenian Cemetery of Şişli following the funeral at the Üç Horon Armenian Church in Beyoğlu. Her only heir is her son Kerope Çilingir, who grew up in the USA.
Trivia
- On September 28, 1995, Matild Manukyan was seriously injured on her left leg in a firearm attack, which originally targeted her security guard and driver.
- Manukyan (played by Ahu Tuğba) was featured in a 2006 TV miniseries named Meçhule Gidenler (literally Those Who Go to Uncertainity) directed by Bülent Pelit. The series has not been broadcast yet.[2]
References
- ^ Aktif Haber February 5, 2006 (Turkish)
- ^ SinemaTürk (Turkish)
External links
- http://www.biyografi.net/kisiayrinti.asp?kisiid=1209 (Biography in Turkish)
This article contains content from Wikipedia, used here under the GNU Free Documentation License.