George M. Mardikian*

George Mardikian was born in 1903 in Bayburt, in what was then the Ottoman Empire. He grew up in Scutari, an Armenian community in Constantinople. His father was killed by Turks seeking to exterminate the Armenians, and other members of his family were either beaten to death or burned alive.

When he was 15, Mardikian ran away from home to join an Armenian guerrilla force to avenge his family. After Armenia gained its short-lived independence in 1918, he returned to his mother in Constantinople, but he was captured by the Turks when war broke out again. He escaped from a prison camp, and with the help of his brother and sister, both of whom had already immigrated to the United States, he came to San Francisco in 1922.

At first, Mardikian worked as a dishwasher in a cafeteria. In 1928, he signed on as a steward on a round-the-world cruise ship. During his travels, he studied under famous chefs to learn their techniques and recipes. Back in Fresno, California, he opened his first restaurant, Omar Khayyam's, in 1932. He later opened two more restaurants and a chain of sandwich shops.

From 1942 to 1954, Mardikian served as an expert food consultant to the U.S. Army. He received commendations from Presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry S Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower for the conservation and improvement of Army food. Mardikian was active with the Boy Scouts for more than 61 years and founded the American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians.