{{Short description|Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist (1901–1982)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Stephen P. Mugar | image = Stephen_P._Mugar.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Stephen Pabbken Mugardichian | birth_date = {{birth date|1901|3|5}} | birth_place = Kharpert, Ottoman Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1982|10|16|1901|3|5}} | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | occupation = Businessman | known_for = {{ubl |Founder of Star Market |Boston-area philanthropy }} | spouse = Marian Graves | children = 2 | relatives = {{ubl |John M. Mugar (cousin) |David G. Mugar (son) |Carolyn Mugar (daughter) }} }} '''Stephen Pabbken Mugar''' (March 5, 1901 – October 16, 1982)<ref name=fold3>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/687611701 |title=Draft Registration Card |publisher=Selective Service System |date=February 1942 |via=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=July 4, 2024}}</ref> was an Armenian businessman in the United States. He was the founder of the Star Market chain of supermarkets in New England. He was also a philanthropist, and is regarded as having been the most prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston.

==Biography== Mugar was born March 5, 1901, in Kharpert (Harpoot)<ref name=fold3/> in the Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), of Armenian parents. His father, Sarkis, and mother, Vosgitel, and his two sisters, Alice and Mary, whose family name was shortened from ''Mugardichian'', were Armenians who came to the United States from the Ottoman Empire in 1906 to join his father's brothers who owned a restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. Another sister, Helen, was born after their arrival in Massachusetts. The 1910 United States census shows the family in the 19th Ward of Boston and lists Sarkis Mugar's occupation as "waiter in restaurant." In 1916, Sarkis Mugar paid $800 {{USDCY|800|1916}} for the Star Market, a small grocery store at 28 Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown, and Stephen eventually went to work for his father in the store.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.arzo.com/arzo2/MIRROR_SPECTATOR%20February%2012,%201999.htm|author=Sigrid Reddy Watson|accessdate=2008-07-02|publisher=AZG/MIRROR-SPECTATOR ON-LINE|date=1999-02-12|title=A Watertown Historian Looks at Steve Mugar's Legacy|quote=Reprinted from the ''Watertown Tab and Press'', December 17, 1998}}</ref>

Sarkis Mugar died in June 1924,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-deaths/150744967/ |title=Deaths |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=18 |date=June 30, 1924 |accessdate=July 5, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> due to complications from an automobile accident.{{cn|date=July 2024}} The death resulted in 23-year-old Stephen taking over the Star Market to support his mother, himself, and his sisters. The second Star Market was opened in Newtonville in 1932 and the third one was opened in Wellesley in 1937.<ref name=did643>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ci.watertown.ma.us/DocumentView.asp?DID=643 |title=Stephen P. Mugar (1901-1982) |website=watertown.ma.us |access-date=2007-08-24 |archive-date=2007-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928224941/http://www.ci.watertown.ma.us/DocumentView.asp?DID=643 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the 1930s, Stephen Mugar married Marian Graves (born June 29, 1901, in Saugus), and they had two children: David G. Mugar and Carolyn Mugar.

After the war ended and wartime restrictions and shortages were over, Stephen worked with his younger cousin John M. Mugar to expand Star Market throughout Greater Boston to meet the increased affluence and consumer demand. The second Star Market in Newtonville opened in 1948{{Inconsistent|date=July 2024|reason=Prior section says second Star Market was opened in Newtonville in 1932.}} and was the Mugar's first supermarket.{{cn|date=July 2024}} It was the prototype of the other modern supermarkets that Stephen and John opened during this period. Meats and produce were packaged in cellophane wrappers to make them more appealing to consumers. A conveyor belt carried bags of groceries to a central pickup station by the parking lot. Customers, tired of no self-service at stores such as A&P, or self-service but little else at First National Stores (Finast), came from miles around to patronize the new Star Market.

Stephen and Marian Mugar lived in Watertown and later in Belmont for many years. The family business was based in Boston, then moved further out to Burlington. Stephen Mugar died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on October 16, 1982,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-obituary-for-stephen-p/150675466/ |title= Stephen P. Mugar, 81, founded Star Market |first=Edgar J. |last=Driscoll Jr. |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=71 |date=October 17, 1982 |accessdate=July 4, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery. Marian Mugar died in Belmont on November 29, 1984,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-marian-mugar-of-belmont/150737906/ |title=Marian Mugar of Belmont, 83; long active in community affairs |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=87 |date=November 30, 1984 |accessdate=July 5, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and was buried next to her husband. Their son David became a business leader and philanthropist in his own right, while their daughter Carolyn became an activist and went on to serve as executive director of Farm Aid and founded the Armenia Tree Project, a reforestation project in Armenia.

==Philanthropic giving== After making his fortune in the Star Market business, Stephen P. Mugar became a generous contributor to educational institutions and Armenian causes locally and abroad. These include:

;Armenian Assembly of America The Armenian Assembly of America is a non-profit group aimed at increased Armenian-American participation in the American democratic process as well as assisting in humanitarian and development programs in Armenia. Stephen Mugar gave generously during his lifetime and his estate in 1984 gave $1 million to help launch its endowment fund.

;Mugar Hall at Tufts The Mugar Hall at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University was given in memory of his parents.

;Mugar Library at Haigazian University The Mugar Library at Haigazian University, an Armenian institution in Beirut, Lebanon, was given in memory of his parents.

;Mugar Life Sciences Building at Northeastern The Mugar Life Sciences Building at Northeastern University, which contains the Departments of Biology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Behavioral Neuroscience, and Chemical Engineering, and laboratories and classrooms, was given in 1963 in memory of his parents.

;Mugar Memorial Library The Mugar Memorial Library at Boston University was given in memory of his parents.

==Legacy==

;Mugar Omni Theater In 1985, David Mugar gave the money for the Marian G. and Stephen P. Mugar Omni Theater at the Museum of Science, Boston.

;Armenian Library & Museum of America In 1992, the former Coolidge Bank building in Watertown, which was bought by the Armenian Library and Museum of America in 1988, was dedicated to the memory of Stephen and Marian Mugar.<ref name=did643/>

;Mugar Building at Cape Cod Hospital In 2002, David Mugar gave $5 million to the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis for a new four story wing in memory of Marian and Stephen.

;Endowed Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies Carolyn Mugar and her husband, John O'Connor, shortly before his death on November 30, 2002, made a gift to Clark University in Worcester to establish the Endowed Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies, which is named for "Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar."<ref>[http://www.clarku.edu/alumni/clarknews/winter02/newsbriefs.cfm Alumni & Friends], Clark University</ref> As of 2008, the holder of the chair was Taner Akcam.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.clarku.edu/offices/publicaffairs/news/press/articles/akcam2008.cfm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080626230956/http://www.clarku.edu/offices/publicaffairs/news/press/articles/akcam2008.cfm |url-status = dead |archive-date = 2008-06-26 |accessdate = 2008-07-02 |publisher = Clark University |date = 2008-06-17 |work = Office of University Communications : Press Release |title = Taner Akçam - scholar, author, ex-political prisoner, and courageous champion of civil liberties - joins the Strassler Center |quote = Clark University has appointed prominent historian Taner Akçam to occupy the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Professorship in Armenian Genocide Studies }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mugar, Stephen P.}} Category:1901 births Category:1982 deaths Category:People from Elazığ Category:People from Mamuret-ul-Aziz vilayet Category:Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States Category:American grocers Category:American food company founders Category:American people of Armenian descent Category:People from Belmont, Massachusetts Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:Businesspeople from Massachusetts Category:Philanthropists from Massachusetts