Louisette Texier

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]