Popularizes Yoghurt in France
He grew up in Istanbul (Constantinople) on the Kurucesme estate. He was educated in Istanbul at the « Aramyan school », in 1902, where he was awarded a Turkish government scholarship in 1909 to study abroad. He decided to study in Paris, at the Sorbonne. In 1913, he obtained a licence es science.
He went on to earn a doctorate in comparative social economics. In Paris, he met Berthe Baumann and they married. They have a son and daughter, Jacques and Monique.
He decides to make yogurt, a product that doesn’t exist in France, and asks Metchnikoff to sponsor him. In 1912, he opened a restaurant and « yogurt cure » store at 8 rue de la Sorbonne.
The restaurant was a meeting place for many students and Armenians. Among the customers were some to whom Aram extended credit because they couldn’t pay, including the future Marcel Achard.
The restaurant was located at 8 rue de la Sorbonne, on the very spot where Charles Péguy (1873-1914) set up and directed his cahiers de la quinzaine (1900-1914). In 1921, he left his store and decided to build a yogurt factory.
He was awarded several medals, including the Merit Agricole and Gold Medals in 1925, and a Grand Prix in 1926. Next to the Montrouge factory, he built a pavilion at 22 rue de Gentilly.
Aram died of arteritis in Montrouge on January 30, 1964, at the age of 77.
In the USA, another Armenian family popularizes yogurt, Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started « Colombo and Sons Creamery » in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1929
