Page 27 - DIVA_1_2015

and invited me to a smart kebab in businessmen-French,
Swiss,

Vaud. He insisted and I went, and Japanese, all Armenians of course these orphans there are perhaps
that's when I fell in the "marmite two or three survivors alive and
-who have for instance set up
armenienne" and became a mem- the Hotel Ecoliere de Yerevan. it was the Foyer des Anciens that
ber of the Armenian community. I They have set up an orphanage donated this land to the Armenian
was the president of the Armenian run by religious nuns and they associations. Now the old buil-
Union of Switzerland for twen- also undertake different huma- dings have been pulled down and
ty-five years. During these years nitarian actions, for instance for we are going to build a new apart-
II was involved in the earthquake ment building-after three years
old people. We have set up a day-
of opposition. The apartments
(ig88), the war (1992-1994) -all
centre for the elderly next to the
the issues that concerned Arme- orphanage, will be let out at a moderate rent
and each day a mini-
controlled
nia and the Armenians. by the State and will
Later, the
bus picks up the old people and serve to collect
biggest Armenian association, the brings them there. It has created funds for Armenia.
Armenian General Benevolent a l<ind of osmosis
between
Union (AGBU), asked me to join orphans and these elderly the Today, due to low interest rates,
per-
the board and my work load sons, as if these people had be- placing one's money in a bank
increased even further because come the grandparents brings little return. If you buy
of these
every three months I had to go to young children. It's really marvel- stocks and shares you may risk lo-
NewYorkto take part in meetings lous to see. sing it all. So, generating the most
there. Finally, I had to resign from regular income comes from inves-
ting in real estate.
the presidency of the Swiss asso-
In general, the other foundations
ciation.
are concerned with scholarships Q: So what are your plans
for young Armenian students for
However, I am still the pres- the future?
who want to come to study here
ident of several associations
here. in Switzerland. Quite a number
It's mainly the private founda- of them are talented young musi- Today, I am on the point of my
tions, set up by wealthy persons. retirement, because I will not
cians. They pass the word around
follow the example of my father.
Before they died they called me
among themselves and find the
I have a lot of hobbies that I would
and told me that they would leave phone number of the foundation.
an amount of money and asked me like to continue to pursue-I am a
This is the reason why we have so
dedicated collector. For instance,
ifI could assume the presidency
of many musicians.
I have one of the biggest collec-
these foundations. I could not say
tions of Armenian
no because they were people who stamps; I like
Another foundation is concerned
had placed their confidence in me. with building some apartments in old books and also art. I collect
There was no way I could refuse Armenian and modern art. ffl
Conches. The piece oflandinques-
their request before they left this
tion was the house where formerly
life.
a number of Armenian orphans
were received by Swiss pastors.
One of these associations, the These people went to Armenia
Armenian Alliance, is the only one pick up orphans and then brought to
where the funds do not come from
them back here; first to Begnins
one single donor, in this particular
and from there they were taken
case, there are nine donors, nine
to this other house. Today, among
PUBIICITE

I s l A

V'
l l l