The Eastern Diocese was deeply saddened by the loss of Anoush Mathevosian, the visionary benefactor of institutions and individuals in the United States, Armenia, and Artsakh, who passed away last week, in New York.
Anoush Mathevosian was a great friend and supporter of the Armenian Church: a woman of conviction and determination, whose generosity was honored by the Eastern Diocese and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. A self-made real estate entrepreneur in the New York area, who began her professional life in the nursing profession, she brought her support to a variety of major undertakings that improved life and expanded opportunity for countless people in Armenia and Artsakh. Working primarily through the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), she sponsored major improvements to Yerevan State University, built a new school in Artsakh, a summer camp in Yegheknadzor, and a school in the earthquake-stricken town of Vanadzor, which the residents named in her honor.
Ms. Mathevosian was especially proud of the hundreds of students who were able to continue their education at Yerevan State University, and pursue elite professions, thanks to the scholarship fund she established through FAR and the Eastern Diocese. Today, numerous beneficiaries of the “FAR Mathevosian Scholarship” work as journalists, doctors, IT experts, engineers, teachers, and diplomats in Armenia—representing a new generation committed to building and improving their homeland.
She took a hands-on approach to philanthropy, envisioning what Armenia needed, and assessing how she could help achieve those goals. The results were extraordinary for our homeland—as Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian government acknowledged when they presented Ms. Mathevosian with their highest awards.
UPDATED SERVICE SCHEDULE:
Funeral services for Anoush Mathevosian have been rescheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 12, at 10 a.m. (this is rescheduled from Monday). As before, the service will take place at Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Bayside, NY. A graveside service at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Flushing, NY, will follow.
Read more about Anoush Mathevosian below. In the meantime, may our risen Lord Jesus Christ remember his faithful servant in his Kingdom, and grant consolation to her loved ones.
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Born in New Julfa, Iran, Anoush Mathevosian was the daughter of a priestly family, whose father Der Kaloust was well known for his piety, patriotic spirit, and devotion to learning.
As a youth, Anoush showed such talent in her Tehran high school that she became one of the very few students granted an opportunity to study in the United States. She graduated with honors from New York Medical School and became a registered nurse. Later, she continued her studies at Columbia University Teachers College, graduated in Public Health Administration, and spent 16 years as an administrator in the City Hospital of Elmhurst.
Though she had lost her brothers at an early age, Anoush had a special bond with her sister Siranoush, who also came to the United States and worked at the United Nations. Both sisters were strongly attached to the Armenian Church.
In the 1960s, the Mathevosian sisters began investing in real estate, and their great success in that area was directed to support various humanitarian projects in our homeland, including many through the Fund for Armenian Relief. Touchingly, one of those projects—Camp Siranoush, a summer haven for needy children in Armenia—was created and named by Anoush as a memorial to her departed sister.
When the earthquake shook Armenia in 1988, Anoush was one of the first to come to the Diocese with concern to help the afflicted. After Armenia declared its independence, it became her vision to encourage the young generation of the country: to help them develop their gifts for learning and leadership, so they could help develop our homeland politically, economically, medically, and spiritually.
In addition to her FAR-related efforts, she established Armenia’s National Mammography Center. Closer to home, Ms. Mathevosian was deeply involved with the Armenian Assembly of America, and served on the Board of Governors of the Armenian National Institute and the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial. It was she who first envisioned, and became a core benefactor of, an Armenian Genocide Museum in Washington, D.C.
Her greatest passion, however, involved access to education. To that end she established an endowment with FAR to provide scholarships to talented but underprivileged youth in Armenia, to allow them to obtain university degrees in their chosen fields. Hundreds of young men and women—who would otherwise have been unable to afford higher education—have pursued their educational dreams through FAR’s Anoush Mathevosian Scholarship Program.
In 2010, His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, bestowed Anoush Mathevosian with the “St. Gregory the Illuminator Medal”—the highest award of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. In an accompanying encyclical, Catholicos Karekin praised her for “keeping the love of Armenia and the Armenian Church strong in your heart, and empowering our homeland with your patriotic service.”
May our loving Father in heaven enlighten her spirit.