Interview with Vahe Gabrach
It is difficult to put him in a box ‒‒ he is a businessman, philanthropist, art collector and, perhaps most of all, a Swiss with Armenian roots, making him one of the most well-known persons in the Armenian community of Geneva. He is an agreeable person with a good heart and spends most of his spare time working voluntarily for the development of the others, mainly in Armenia as well as for Armenian well-being in Switzerland and elsewhere. Numerous persons call on him for something ‒‒ students, rich and poor for scholarships, businessmen to find a worthy cause for their money, to ensure that the funds are well spent. In addition to his voluntary work, he is a successful businessman and an art collector. Mr Vahe has indeed a lot on his plate and never seems to have a dull moment. We had the opportunity to meet him here in Geneva ‒‒ one day when he was at home ‒‒ before once again he sets off on his travels.
Q: Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I was born in Lebanon of Armenian parents. My mother was an Armenian from Jerusalem, my father from Istanbul and they met in Lebanon. In 1956, when there were some tensions in Lebanon, my father, who worked a lot with Switzerland in the finance business and in particular in the banking sector, told his father with whom he worked: “I feel there is something going to happen here and therefore I will go to live in Switzerland. You can continue the business here, and I will set up a company in Switzerland. I’ll take my family too.”
I arrived in Geneva at the age of 5 and was educated here. After that I studied at L’Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne because my father owned hotels. When I finished my studies I took over the management of the hotels. After two years I was a little bored and went into the financial business. Today, after a career of thirty-five years in the finance sector, my father is still alive and keeps on working at the age of 95. He comes to his office every day and works from 10.30 to 4 or 5 o’clock. It is the same thing for my mother who, at the age of 88, works everyday as well.
Q: How did you get involved in the Armenian community?
I always felt very Armenian but it was around the age of 20 or 21 that one of my friends came to pick me and invited me to a smart kebab in Vaud. He insisted and I went, and that’s when I fell in the “marmite armenienne” and became a member of the Armenian community. I was the president of the Armenian Union of Switzerland for twenty-five years. During these years I was involved in the earthquake (1988), the war (1992‒1994)‒‒ all the issues that concerned Armenia and the Armenians. Later, the biggest Armenian association, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), asked me to join the board and my work load increased even further because every three months I had to go to New York to take part in meetings there. Finally, I had to resign from the presidency of the Swiss association.
However, I am still the president of several associations here. It’s mainly the private foundations, set up by wealthy persons. Before they died they called me and told me that they would leave an amount of money and asked me if I could assume the presidency of these foundations. I could not say no because they were people who had placed their confidence in me. There was no way I could refuse their request before they left this life.
One of these associations, the Armenian Alliance, is the only one where the funds do not come from one single donor, in this particular case, there are nine donors, nine businessmen –‒ French, Swiss, Japanese, all Armenians of course ‒‒ who have for instance set up the Hôtel Ecolière de Yerevan. They have set up an orphanage run by religious nuns and they also undertake different humanitarian actions, for instance for old people. We have set up a day-centre for the elderly next to the orphanage, and each day a mini-bus picks up the old people and brings them there. It has created a kind of osmosis between the orphans and these elderly persons, as if these people had become the grandparents of these young children. It’s really marvellous to see.
In general, the other foundations are concerned with scholarships for young Armenian students who want to come to study here in Switzerland. Quite a number of them are talented young musicians. They pass the word around among themselves and find the phone number of the foundation. This is the reason why we have so many musicians.
Another foundation is concerned with building some apartments in Conches. The piece of land in question was the house where formerly a number of Armenian orphans were received by Swiss pastors. These people went to Armenia to pick up orphans and then brought them back here; first to Begnins and from there they were taken to this other house. Today, among these orphans there are perhaps two or three survivors alive and it was the Foyer des Anciens that donated this land to the Armenian associations. Now the old buildings have been pulled down and we are going to build a new apartment building ‒‒ after three years of opposition. The apartments will be let out at a moderate rent controlled by the State and will serve to collect funds for Armenia.
Today, due to low interest rates, placing one’s money in a bank brings little return. If you buy stocks and shares you may risk to losing it all. So, generating the most regular income comes from investing in real estate.
Q: So what are your plans for the future?
Today, I am on the point of my retirement, because I will not follow the example of my father. I have a lot of hobbies that I would like to continue to pursue ‒‒ I am a dedicated collector. For instance, I have one of the biggest collections of Armenian stamps; I like old books and also art. I collect Armenian and modern art.
