Margaret Phipps Boegner
Margaret Phipps Boegner (November 17, 1906 – September 16, 2006) was an American heiress and philanthropist.
Margaret Phipps Boegner | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 17, 1906 |
| Died | September 16, 2006 (aged 99) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | philanthropist |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | John Shaffer Phipps Margarita Celia Grace |
Biography
Early life
Margaret Helen Phipps was born on November 17, 1906.[1] Her father was John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958) and her mother, Margarita Celia Grace (1876-1957).[1][2] She had three brothers, John H. H. Phipps, Michael Grace Phipps (1910–1973) and Hubert Beaumont Phipps (1906–1969). Her paternal grandfather was Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930) and her maternal grandfather was Michael P. Grace (1842-1920).[1][3] She grew up at Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury, New York.[1]
Philanthropy
After her parents' deaths in 1957 and 1958, she developed the Old Westbury Gardens and decided to open her family residence to the public.[1][4] She became Founder and Chairman of the Old Westbury Gardens non-profit organization.[1][2][5]
She was featured in an episode of America's Castles.[6]
Personal life
She married J. Gordon Douglas Jr. in 1930.[1] They had a son and a daughter:
- J. Gordon Douglas III.[1]
- Dita Amory Douglas Naylor-Leyland (married Alick David Yorke Naylor-Leyland (1929-1991), son of Sir Albert Edward Herbert Naylor-Leyland, 2nd Baronet (1890-1952) of the Naylor-Leyland baronets; they have one son: Nicholas Edward Naylor-Leyland).[1]
They divorced in 1947.[1]
In 1951, she married Etienne Boegner, a French businessman and diplomat, and the son of Marc Boegner (1881-1970), a prominent member of the French Resistance and the first President of the Protestant Federation of France.[7] He died in 1985.[1]
She died in 2006.[1] On June 30, 2010, some of her jewels were sold in an auction house in East Moriches, New York.[3]
Bibliography
- Peggie Phipps Boegner, Richard Gachot, Halcyon Days: An American Family Through Three Generations (New York, New York: Harry N Abrams, 2007).
References
- Dennis Hevesi, Margaret Phipps Boegner, 99, Who Founded Old Westbury Gardens, Is Dead , The New York Times, September 19, 2006
- H. Eric Semler, LIFE STYLE: Sunday Outing; On Two Grand Estates, History and Horticulture, The New York Times, June 04, 1989
- Paul J. Mateyunas, Long Island's Gold Coast, Arcadia Publishing, 2012, p. 54
- Paula Deitz, Of Gardens: Selected Essays, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 185
- imdb
- Robert O. Paxton (ed.), Nicholas Wahl (ed.), De Gaulle and the United States: A Centennial Reappraisal, Paris, France: Editions Berg International, 1994, p. 37,