Haroutioun Samuel Manougian (1914 – 1964)

Haroutioun Manougian was born in Kharpert, Turkey on September 13, 1914 in the early days of the Armenian genocide.  On April 24, 1915 when the then Turkish government gave the order to execute all the Armenians living in Turkey, his father Samuel Manougian who was a minister was taken away and executed.   His mother Nevart managed to escape to safety with her children.  Haroutioun was only a few months old at the time.  They escaped to Lebanon where his mother Nevart and Bedros Kardzair set up an orphanage to help take care of children who had managed to escape the genocide but had lost their parents.

Haroutioun grew up in Lebanon with his brothers Antranig and Karekin and his sisters Dzia and Elize.  He was very active in Homenetmen and organized tournaments and travelled with the Homenetmen teams to Syria and Egypt.

He immigrated to Canada in 1961 with his wife Haigouhi, daughter Arpi and son Sam and settled in Toronto.  There were very few Armenian families in Toronto at that time.  He worked hard and managed to establish the ARF Soghomon Tehlirian Gomide in Toronto in 1962.  The following year in 1963, he founded the A.R.S. Roubina chapter in Toronto.  As both the ARF and the ARS started to grow, his life was short lived and he passed away unexpectedly on January 20, 1964.

The solid foundations that he laid for the Armenian community in Toronto, after his death soon led to the establishment of the Armenian Community Centre on Dupont Street and the establishment of the organizations of AYF, Hamazkayin, Homenetmen, School, church and seniors.  Today, all these organizations have flourished to thousands of members and form the hub of all the activities of the Armenian community in Toronto.  He would have been very proud today to see the fruits of his labour.