Vatche Manoukian
Mr. and Ms. Vatche Manoukian to be Honored at AGBU Banquet in New York
Date: 10/18/2002
Contact: David Zenian
Phone: (202) 879-6713
Fax: (202) 879-6715
Email: agbuais@pressroom.com
Armenian General Benevolent Union
New York, October 18 - From pharmaceuticals to soft drinks, from educational to religious institutions, the name of Mr. Vatche Manoukian has become synonymous with not just philanthropy but model in active participation in building a stronger Armenia and Diaspora.
Mr. Manoukian, a Lebanese-born London resident, has given generously to more than a dozen institutions, from the Armenian General Benevolent Union to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, to schools, churches and his ancestral homeland - Armenia.
In Armenia, Mr. Manoukian was one of the first - and few - Diaspora Armenians who invested in industry with the primary objective of creating jobs. As one Armenian diplomat said recently, " it is good that we have Coca Cola, medical production, or a British bank in Yerevan, but what is more important is the employment opportunities these enterprises have created - something which Mr. Manoukian has done time and time again through his well-thought out investments."
A successful businessman, Mr. Manoukian's spirit of giving has only increased through the years, as have his ties with everything Armenian.
In the Diaspora, Mr. Manoukian personally and through the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Foundation has reached out on more than one occasion to help institutions which are the foundations of the Armenian nation - schools, churches, scholarship think tanks, publications, social endeavors, and projects which are not only aimed at Armenians, but also help non-Armenians understand the very nature and roots of this old nation which was the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion more than 1700 years ago.
In London, it was thanks to a generous donation by Mr. Manoukian that valuable Armenian historical and religious documents and manuscripts were displayed by The British Museum. The same is true with his recent endowment to Armenia Service Project at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Mr. Manoukian, in the true Armenian family tradition, made sure to perpetuate the memory of his father through the reconstruction of the beautiful Saint Yeghishe Armenian Church complex of London and the Yeghishe Manoukian School in Lebanon.
The Armenian General Benevolent Union, which has always encouraged philanthropy and the active involvement in the betterment of Armenians world-wide, will honor Mr. Vatche and Ms. Tamar Manoukian at its Gala Banquet Oct. 26 at the Hotel Pierre in New York in appreciation of his life-long commitment to Armenian causes.