Alex Manoogian

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St. John Armenian Church (1964) by architect Suren Pilafian in the Metro Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, founded by Alex Manoogian, is noted for its stained glass.^[1]

Alex Manoogian (1901 Smyrna, Ottoman Empire - 10 July 1996, Detroit) was a successful American businessman, industrial engineer, and well-known philanthropist. Detroit's Manoogian Mansion bears his name.

[edit] Life

Donated to the City in 1966, the Manoogian Mansion is the official residence of the Mayor of Detroit.

Born into an Armenian family, Manoogian was 19 when he arrived in the United States fleeing the Armenian genocide in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Arriving in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1920, he began working as a machinist. He also worked for short periods in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts. In time he was joined by his parents, two brothers and two sisters.

Manoogian moved to Detroit in 1924. Initially gaining experience in the auto industry, in 1929 he set off on his own, founding the Masco Screw Company, later known as Masco Corporation. By 1936 -- in the midst of the Great Depression -- Manoogian had grown Masco to the point that it was listed on the NYSE. Manoogian's greatest business achievement may have been his redesign of the Delta faucet, which resulted in enormous sales for the plumbing fixture.

Manoogian contributed generously to charitable organizations and educational institutions, especially to the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), of which organization he was voted Honorary Life President in 1989. Manoogian was also active in the Knights of Vartan and in 1940 he was elected its Avak Sparapet (National Commander). In 1966 Manoogian donated his mansion to the city of Detroit. It is today the mayoral residence for Detroit.

In 1968 he was responsible for the establishment of the AGBU Alex and Marie Manoogian Cultural Fund. The fund, seeded with a $1 million is devoted to the publication and translation of Armenian scholarly and literary works, and Armenian cultural worldwide.

The Manoogians have also funded (through the AGBU) schools for Armenians in the Diaspora bearing the Manoogian name in Southfield, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Beirut, Lebanon; Zahle, Lebanon; Egypt; Tehran, Iran; Montreal, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; and Montevideo, Uruguay. Manoogian also funded numerous churches, cultural centers, university chairs for Armenian studies and museums worldwide. He also donated to Wayne State University in Detroit quite generously, and Manoogian Hall, Wayne State's center for international language and linguistics, is named after him.

There is an Alex Manoogian Street named after him in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, in Montreal, Canada, and another in Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

His daughter, Louise Manoogian Simone, succeeded him as President of AGBU. His son, Richard Manoogian, is CEO of Masco and a major collector of American art.

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