Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Staff Report
The Armenian Studies Program received a generous donation of $50,000 from the estate of Knarik Clara Margossian, who passed away in Fresno on February 7, 2023, at the age of 104. Margossian’s gift will be used to establish an Armenian Studies scholarship in her name at Fresno State, which will benefit students enrolled in Armenian and Armenian Studies courses.
Margossian’s family was from Van, Armenia, and her parents marched with other refugees to Yerevan, following the retreat of Russian forces in Van in 1915. Later the family moved to Rostov-on-Don, where Clara was born on August 21, 1918. The family emigrated again in 1935, moving to Tehran, Iran and eight years later they made a permanent move to the United States.
The Margossian family was involved in the watch-making business and Clara worked all her life as an accountant and manager in the family business, located in the JC Penney department store on the Fulton Mall. She retired in the early 1980’s.
Margossian was deeply attached to Armenia and Artsakh and keenly followed news from there. She had previously donated generously to the Armenia Fund, with the goal of building new apartments in Gyumri and providing humanitarian aid to Armenians in Artsakh. Her one million dollar donation provided housing for the displaced families and families who lost their breadwinners during the 2020 Artsakh war.
After her death, the Margossian Trust has continued her philanthropy. In Armenia, the Trust donated to the Tavush Diocese in Armenia to construct a social/educational center for children in the city of Bert. The center will be located on the property of the St. Hovannes Church, which was constructed several years earlier by another Fresno benefactor, John Stevens.
The Trust is providing for a new dormitory at the Dzidzernag camp for 14-18-year-olds in the Gougarats Diocese of Armenia and is also sponsoring a TUMO Center for Creative Technologies “Box” project in Spitak, Armenia. The TUMO “Box” is an easy-to-move, low-cost and technically equipped mini-TUMO.
The Margossian Trust is supporting projects to assist Armenians in Lebanon to obtain food and medicine, to provide for student education, and in support of the Bird’s Nest Orphanage. The Trust also supports many other projects in Tripoli and Beirut.
The Armenian Studies Program expresses it appreciation to the Knarik Clara Margossian Trust for its donation. Margossian has left a legacy that will last for generations.