Pailadzo Captanian ( ) , was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and an author . She is also credited with inspiring the creation of Rice-A-Roni which is based on her own recipe of Armenian pilaf . During the Armenian Genocide in 1915 , Pailadzo , while pregnant , was forced to march through the Syrian desert to Aleppo . After the Genocide , she wrote her memoirs in French , titled " Memoires d'une deportee " . In 1919 , the memoirs were published and are considered important contribution to Armenian Genocide research , since it was penned shortly after the events . The book contributed to Raphael Lemkin 's research and his understanding of the Genocide . Also in 1919 , Mrs. Captanian was reunited with her two other sons whom she had entrusted to a Greek family before the deportations . Afterwards , Pailadzo and her sons moved to the United States , where she worked as a seamstress and sewed draperies for President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's home in Hyde Park , New York
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Pailadzo Captanian