Page 10 - Rita Asfour 2016 Coffee Table Book_Neat
P. 10
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the courage, and love of life, of Rita’s Armenian father, Kaspar Thomassian.
Kaspar was born in Turkey in 1901. He was a 13 year old boy when he escaped the World War I
ravages of the Armenian Genocide. Thousands of miles to the south, he found refuge in Egypt.
A hard working man and an inventor, it took Kaspar only 15 years to prosper in Egypt.
There, at the young age of only 28, he was well off financially to get married.
The 1929 wedding photo of Kaspar Thomassian and Gamila Khoury
...
Rita inherited that single mindedness by watching her father work day and night on his inventions. He
designed a machine to manufacture shaving blades and one that records music on tape. Her mother
was the second strong influence as she made sure the little girl attended all her piano lessons - on time.
Rita Asfour Self-Portrait, Circa 1970
Rita Asfour with her Pomeranian, Bambi, in her Malibu studio, circa 1990
