The Mugar family of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, is a prominent Armenian-American family in New England business and in philanthropy, both in the United States and in Armenia. The best known member of the family is Stephen P. Mugar, (1901-1982), who founded the Star Market chain of super markets on which the family fortune was based. In its May, 2004, issue, Boston Magazine ranked the Mugar family sixth in its list of the 50 most influential Boston families. [1]
The first family members to arrive in Boston were brothers, Charles and Martin Mugar (shortened from Mugardichian), who came from Kharpert, Ottoman Empire, in 1904. They were joined in 1906 by their brothers, Arthur, Gregory and Sarkis Mugar, along with Sarkis Mugar's wife and three children, one of whom was Stephen P. Mugar. [2]
The major objects of Mugar family philanthropic giving have been:
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, nicknamed "Mr Five Per Cent", was a British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development and is credited with being the first person to exploit Iraqi oil. Gulbenkian travelled extensively and lived in a number of cities including Istanbul, London, Paris, and Lisbon.
Michael Arlen was an essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter. He had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England, publishing the best-selling novel The Green Hat in 1924. Arlen is most famous for his satirical romances set in English smart society, but he also wrote gothic horror and psychological thrillers, for instance "The Gentleman from America", which was filmed in 1948 as The Fatal Night, and again in 1956 as a television episode for Alfred Hitchcock's TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Near the end of his life, Arlen mainly occupied himself with political writing. Arlen's vivid but colloquial style "with unusual inversions and inflections with a heightened exotic pitch" came to be known as 'Arlenesque'.
Élias Sarkis was a Lebanese lawyer and President of Lebanon who served from 1976 to 1982.
The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery business, provided the naming gift to commemorate his parents. Mugar's entrance carries an inscription from Stephen honoring his parents.
In coming to America from Armenia my parents opened the door of Freedom to me. America's public schools & libraries opened my eyes to the unlimited opportunity in this great land, as well as the privileges and obligations of citizenship. May this library serve over the years as a similar inspiration to all who use it. In memory of my father and mother Sarkis and Vosgitel Mugar. By their grateful son
– Stephen P. Mugar –
David Graves Mugar was an Armenian-American businessman from Belmont, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston. He was CEO and chair of Mugar Enterprises. His father, Stephen P. Mugar was the founder of the Star Market supermarket chain, and was also a major Boston-area philanthropist.
Haigazian University is a higher education institution founded in 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon as Haigazian College. For a brief period starting 1992, the name was changed to Haigazian University College before the institution adopted the present name in 1996. It offers programs leading to Bachelor's degrees in the Arts and Sciences as well as Business Administration and Economics, in addition to Master's degrees in the Arts, Sciences and Business Administration. English is the main language of instruction, although some courses are offered in Armenian and Arabic. All degrees from Haigazian are recognized by the Lebanese government and the Association of International Colleges and Universities. It is supported by the Armenian Evangelical community, and was established primarily to meet the needs of the large Lebanese-Armenian population. However, the university is open to all students, regardless of race, nationality, or creed, and has professors and student body from all sections of Lebanese society.
The Balyan family was a prominent Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries. For five generations, they designed and constructed numerous major buildings in the Ottoman Empire, including palaces, mansions, konaks, kiosks, yalis, mosques, churches, and various public buildings, mostly in Constantinople.
Armenian Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immigration to the United States took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of Armenians settled in the United States following the Hamidian massacres of the mid-1890s, the Adana massacre of 1909, and the Armenian genocide of 1915–1918 in the Ottoman Empire. Since the 1950s many Armenians from the Middle East migrated to the United States as a result of political instability in the region. It accelerated in the late 1980s and has continued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 due to socio-economic and political reasons. The Los Angeles area has the largest Armenian population in the United States.
The WGBH Educational Foundation is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and operates its flagship station WGBH-TV, sister station WGBX-TV, and a group of NPR member stations in the state. It also owns WGBY-TV in Springfield, which is operated by New England Public Media under a program service agreement.
Edward Charles Creighton was a prominent pioneer businessman in early Omaha, Nebraska. The elder brother of John A. Creighton, the Creightons were responsible for founding many institutions that were central to the growth and development of Omaha. Married to Mary Lucretia Creighton in their native Dayton, Ohio, Edward relied on Mary to carry out his request to create a college, which eventually became Creighton University.
Star Market is a New England chain of supermarkets based in Greater Boston. It was owned by the Mugar family and started in 1915. The company was sold to The Jewel Companies, Inc. in 1964 and later to Investcorp, which in turn sold the chain to Shaw's Supermarkets. As stores were remodeled, many adopted the Shaw's name, leaving only a handful of Star Market stores operating by the late 2000s. In 2008, Shaw's began to revive the name, a trend which was expedited after the parent company of both chains was sold to Cerberus Capital Management. Today, both Shaw's and Star Market are administered as a single division.
The Mugar Omni Theater is a domed IMAX theater at the Museum of Science, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Stephen P. Mugar was the founder of the Star Market chain of supermarkets in New England. He was also a philanthropist and the most prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston.
John M. Mugar president and chairman of the Star Market chain of supermarkets in New England and prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston, was born April 5, 1914, in Boston, son of Armenian immigrant, Martin Mugar and his wife Anna. He died March 23, 2007, in Gloucester.
Ahmet Ertegun was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.
Carolyn Mugar is an Armenian-American activist, best known for founding the Armenia Tree Project. She is a prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston.
Massachusetts is home to one of the largest Armenian American communities in the United States, with significant concentrations in the Greater Boston area, particularly in Watertown, Cambridge, and Belmont.
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