Gerard Cafesjian
| Gerard Cafesjian | |
|---|---|
Cafesjian in Yerevan in November 2009
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| Born |
April 26, 1925 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Died | September 15, 2013 (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Founder of the Cafesjian Family Foundation |
Gerard Leon Cafesjian (Armenian: Ջերարդ Լեւոն , 26 April 1925 – 15 September 2013) was a businessman and philanthropist who founded the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF), the Cafesjian Museum Foundation (CMF) and the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.
Cafesjian was born April 26, 1925, in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His parents had come to the United States preceding the Armenian Genocide by the Turks.
After amphibious training, he served as a sailor in World War II aboard J. P. Morgan's yacht, the Corsair III, built in 1895 and renamed the USS Oceanographer. The ship did extensive survey work in and around Guadalcanal and other Solomon Islands in 1943 and 1944. He also served aboard the USS Andres (DE45), a destroyer escort for convoys from the United States to North Africa in late 1944 and 1945. When he returned after the war he married Cleo Thomas, a nurse he met during the war.
Cafesjian earned a degree in economics from Cornell University and a doctorate of jurisprudence from Columbia Law School, both in five and a half years. He was a member of the New York Bar Association.
He began his career with West Publishing as a legal editor in New York City. He was the first employee in the history of the 100-year-old company to be transferred into the home offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. At West Publishing he rose through the ranks to the position of executive vice president, overseeing sales, marketing, customer service, public relations, and all Westlaw office training and development. At West, he conceived of and started the West Legal Directory and a well-known program, "Art and the Law", which earned him and West numerous awards.
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