Louise Manoogian Simone

Louise Manoogian Simone (May 19, 1933 – February 18, 2019)^[1] was an Armenian American philanthropist. She was president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) from 1989 to 2002.^[2]

Life

Louise Manoogian was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her father Alex Manoogian, an immigrant from Smyrna, founded Masco in 1929 and became wealthy after developing the one-handed faucet in the 1950s.^[3] Alex Manoogian was fifth president of the AGBU and a philanthropist for Detroit civic causes and Armenian political and cultural causes.^[3]

She was on the AGBU's central council for eight years before succeeding her father as its president.^[3][4] She organized AGBU disaster relief after the 1988 Armenian earthquake.^[5] In 1962, her parents established the Louise Manoogian Simone Foundation, which was later renamed the Manoogian Simone Foundation.^[6] In 2007 it donated $1.2m to the University of Michigan's Armenian Studies program.^[7] In 1979 Simone served a term on the Council of the Eastern U.S. Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the first woman in such a senior position.^[8] Simone and her brother Richard Manoogian contributed $2m in 2000 towards the construction of Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan.^[9]

Personal life

Louise Manoogian married Arman Simone^[10] and lived in Manhattan.^[3] Simone had a daughter, Christine, and two sons, David and Marc.^[11]