Early Life
Varis was born Agnes Koulouvaris to Dionysis and Demetroula Koulouvaris on January 11, 1930, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of eight children. Her parents, both Greek immigrants, moved the family to the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York, where her father, who worked as an ice cream vendor, died when she was 14. Her mother could neither read nor write and was left to raise the family alone on the income she earned sewing buttons in a garment factory. Varis was the only child of eight to attend college. She earned her degree in Chemistry and English from Brooklyn College. After attending New York University's Stern School of Business, she shortened her surname to "Varis" in preparation for entering the business world.
Read more about this topic: Agnes Varis
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“The spring is here, young and beautiful as ever, and absolutely shocking in its display of reckless maternity; but the Judas tree will bloom for you on the Bosphorus if you get there in time. No one ever loved the dog-wood and Judas tree as I have done, and it is my one crown of life to be sure that I am going to take them with me to heaven to enjoy real happiness with the Virgin and them.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)