Louisette Texier

Louisette Texier
Born
Arpine Hovanessian

18 February 1913
Konya, Ottoman Empire
Died20 July 2021(2021-07-20) (aged 108)
La Romieu, France
NationalityFrench
Occupation(s)Resistant
Racecar driver

Louisette Texier, born Arpine Hovanessian (Armenian: Արփինե Հովհաննիսեան; 18 February 1913 – 20 July 2021) was a French resistant and racecar driver.[1] She was one of the last remaining survivors of the Armenian genocide.

Biography

Hovanessian was born into an Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire.[2] Her father was assassinated in 1915 during the Armenian genocide and she was saved by her mother and placed in an orphanage in Istanbul.[2] The orphanage moved to Thessaloniki in 1922, and to Marseille in 1924. In 1928, she began attending the École Tebrotzassère [fr] in Le Raincy, where she was classmates with Mélinée Manouchian.[2] She was not reunited with her mother until adulthood.[3]

Texier left boarding school at the age of 15 "to become a dancer in Parisian cabarets and live without constraint".[3] She participated in the French Resistance during World War II, evidenced by her French Forces of the Interior card, and helped to hide a Jewish family.[2] In 1956, she opened a clothing store in Neuilly-sur-Seine.[2]

Texier was passionate about cars and motorsports. She partook in professional competitions from 1956 to 1964, such as the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de France Automobile.[4][5] She ranked 2nd in the 1963 competition, driving a Jaguar Mark 2. She was selected for the "Daring Armenian Women" project, which covered distinguished women of Armenian origin.[6]

Texier died in La Romieu on 20 July 2021 at the age of 108. Her funeral was held at the Chapelle Saint-Gény de Lectoure [fr].[7]

References

  1. ^ "HOVANESSIAN Arpine". MatchID (in French).
  2. ^ a b c d e Bekmezian, Hélène (20 August 2021). "Mort de Louisette Texier, ancienne pilote automobile et résistante". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Barbuti, Claire (24 April 2018). "Louisette Texier, féministe, résistante et à 105 ans dernière rescapée française du génocide arménien". TV5Monde (in French). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  4. ^ "All Results of Louisette Texier". Racing Sports Cars.
  5. ^ "Louisette Texier". eWRC-Results.com.
  6. ^ Daring Armenian Women (YouTube). 25 October 2019.
  7. ^ Masson, Jean Michel (22 July 2021). "La doyenne du village nous a quittés". Le journal du Gers (in French). La Romieu. Retrieved 24 August 2021.