George Mardikian

George Magar Mardikian (November 7, 1903 – October 23, 1977) was a Armenian-American restaurateur, chef, author and philanthropist born in Turkey. In 1938, he opened Omar Khayyam's restaurant in San Francisco, California, which was open for more than 40 years. He was important in popularizing Armenian cuisine in the US. Mardikian was the founder of American National Committee To Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA). His uncle was Armenian revolutionary Krikor Amirian.

Early life, family and education Mardikian was born on November 7, 1903, in Bayburt, in what was then the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), to Magar Mardikian and Haiganoush Amirian. Mardikian grew up in the city of Scutari, an Armenian community in Constantinople. Mardikian's paternal family was one of warriors—hence their family name: in Armenian, Mardik translates to warrior. His maternal family, the Amirians, was an influential and powerful family in Bayburt. Mardikian's mother also was the eldest sibling of his idol, Krikor Amirian.

As a child, Mardikian was visibly overweight and carried the nickname shisko (Turkish: "chubby"). Mardikian's father, Magar, was of one of the approximately 250 ethnic-Armenian intellectuals and community leaders arrested on April 24, 1915, known as Red Sunday. After his arrest, the Amirians were driven out of their homes and marched to Erzincan. Mardikian's maternal grandmother, Vartanoush Amirian, committed suicide by jumping in the Euphrates, while the rest of the Amirian family was either beaten to death or burned alive. Witnessing the massacre of his mother's side of his family, Mardikian wanted to avenge their deaths and prove to his mother that he was a true warrior. As a result of his ambition, Mardikian ran away from his home and joined the Armenian volunteer units, in which his uncle, Krikor Amirian, was a high-ranking member. After the First World War ended, Mardikian returned to his mother as a war hero.

In the summer of 1920, Mardikian worked with Captain Eddie Fox and George D. White of the Near East Relief organization to create an Armenian Boy Scout unit. Mardikian eventually gained his freedom and returned to his mother and his surviving family members in Scutari. His mother, Haiganoush, and uncle, Krikor, advised him that he must go to the United States like his older sister Baidzar. Within a few days, he left Scutari.

One hour after Mardikian's ship left the port of Scutari, Turkish police knocked on Haiganoush's door demanding that they reveal the location of her son. The reason for this was that Mardikian stated he was a Near East Relief worker, which led to his freedom from prison. Haiganoush stated that her son had left this world and had entered a new one. Nonetheless, the Turkish police ransacked the home and finally left, assuming that he had died.

Arrival in the United States Mardikian arrived at Ellis Island on July 24, 1922. He later stated, "As I dried myself with the thick, heavy towel, and saw my clean skin and felt my blood tingle, it was as though I had been reborn, as though I were a completely new human being, a taller, a stronger, prouder man—an American". Since that day, Mardikian had said that July 24 is his birthday. He vowed to one day open a restaurant of his own. After arriving in San Francisco, he found a job working as a dishwasher at Coffee Dan's and later at Clinton's Cafeteria.

In 1935, Mardikian arranged the arrival of his mother from Bucharest, Romania, where she lived with her brother, Krikor Amirian. Shortly after, in February 1936, Haiganoush contracted pneumonia while in surgery and died days later. She was eventually buried at Ararat Cemetery in Fresno.

World War II Mardikian wrote about Amirian stating, "We worshiped him then, and always would." In 1951, President Truman awarded Mardikian the Medal of Freedom. In 1942, Mardikian was appointed as a food consultant to the Quartermaster General of the United States Army, a position that he would hold until 1954. GIs everywhere are grateful to Mardikian for improving the quality of their meals. The Reader's Digest has conferred the title "Champion of G.I. Chow. Mardikian would receive presidential commendations for the drastic changes that he made to the United States military. In 1944, he published a cook book, Dinner at Omar Khayyam's, that was reprinted numerous times over the next two decades.

In 1945, he donated his services as caterer for the United Nations Conference on International Organization that was held in San Francisco and established the United Nations. Even though Mardikian had a comfortable life in the United States, he would periodically get depressed because he missed his uncle, Krikor Amirian.

After the end of World War II, Mardikian feared that his uncle may have been killed. He was finally able to locate him in late 1945. In order to ensure their reunification, Mardikian asked the local Allied general to shelter his uncle and family. Mardikian helped them to escape to Austria and then, finally, to Italy. His reunion with his uncle was emotional.

In addition to finding his long-lost family, Mardikian traveled the world trying to convince Armenians to move to the US. Over 5,000 Armenians immigrated to the United States because of his efforts.

Markidian was as a food consultant to the Quartermaster General of the US Army from 1942 to 1954. Later that year, Mardikian would appoint his uncle as his chief Armenian typist and Soghomon Tehlirian as his assistant.

He would go on to write and contribute to entrepreneurial and philanthropic causes, including the founding of American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA). After passing photographs of Mardikian "breaking bread" with various notable people (including Dwight Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt), diners would descend into the cavernous, sumptuously decorated restaurant below.

On the left at the bottom of the stairs was the Rubaiyat lounge with velvet banquettes, low Persian lamps, and a gleaming chrome cash register. Tables in the restaurant were contained in curtained chambers out of the Arabian Nights decorated with wall-hangings and inscriptions from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Mardikian would customarily "break bread" (a special flat bread served at the restaurant) with his diners as a sign of hospitality. He used Armenian folk tales to sell items on his menu.

Later life He was a guest star in the television show, This Is Your Life, which was broadcast May 5, 1954 with host Ralph Edwards. He supported Republican candidates all over the country. Due to his fame, he knew many famous people. In the 1950s, when Emperor Haile Selassie visited San Francisco, Mardikian visited him frequently, taking him boxes of Armenian halva.

In 1956, Mardikian published his memoirs, Song of America. An excerpt from the book is quoted on a wall plaque in the entrance hall to the American Adventure Pavilion at Disney's Epcot Center.

Mardikian died at age 73 on October 23, 1977.

Publications