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DRAFT: Tauni de Lesseps

Countess, Elisabeth Hélène Tauni de Lesseps (March 10, 1915, Paris, Ile-de-France, France - Saturday, March 24, 2001, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA)[1] was an internationally renowned French-born American artist and philanthropist. She was invested as Dame of Justice of the Order of the Knights of Malta for her work as a cofounder of the original clinic for the Rehabilitation of the Disfigured in New York.[2]

Early Life

De Lesseps was born 1915 in Paris, France to Jacques de Lesseps, a decorated French aviator and war hero, and Theresa Grace Mackenzie de Lesseps, of Ontario, Canada. Her paternal grandfather was Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French diplomat and developer of the Suez and Panama Canals. Her maternal grandfather was Sir Willam Mackenzie, who built the first railroad across Canada. She had one sister, Ki Ki Hicks, of Vancouver, Canada, and two brothers, including Count Guy de Lesseps, of Paris, France.[2] [3] [4] De Lesseps moved to the United States after World War II to work as a John Robert Powers model and subsequently became a naturalized American citizen.[5] (court testimony says "for the children" so was there more than one? was it Michael and children from Harjes's first marriage? testimony suggests she was independently wealthy or at least financially stable from money she inherited due to her grandfather's involvement with the Suez Canal)[6] (make that NY Supreme Court citation better)

Personal Life

Although De Lesseps's Palm Beach Post obituary notes that Tauni moved to the United States after World War II, official records on Ancestry Library Edition indicate her first marriage was to Charles Daniel Downs on August 2, 1937 in the District of Columbia, USA, under the name Elizabeth de Lesseps. Their son, Guy Michael Downs/De Lessep was born July 13, 1938.[7] [but elsewhere it says she moved to US after WWII?] She married investment banker Henry Herman Harjes, Jr. (1912–1994), son of Henry Herman Harjes, on Friday, April 13, 1947 at Christ Church Methodist in New York City, followed by a breakfast reception at the Ritz-Carlton.[8][9] Their eight-year rocky marriage ended in divorce, amidst accusations of domestic abuse, infidelity, and mishandling of finances on both sides.[10] [11] Countersuits in the New York State Supreme Court resulted in a separation for De Lesseps with a $200 monthly alimony and a ruling that Harjes had committed acts of physical violence against her.[12] [6] (make that NY Supreme Court citation better) On July 27, 1956, de Lesseps married Arne Fougner of Tarrytown, N.J. and Oslo, Norway, in a ceremony at Saint Paul's Methodist Church in Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY. Fougner was the son of Sigurd Fougner, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway, and Mrs. Fougner of Oslo.[3] Married to investment banker Dudley Nevison Schoales, who died in 1989.[13] Married to Lt. General Fletcher C. Booker.[2] She was survived by son Michael de Lesseps (1938-2023), of South Freeport, Maine; two grandsons, and two stepdaughters.[2]

Career

De Lesseps worked in sculpture and painting, covering various subject matter and media. She had many one-man shows in international venues throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[2] She worked in bronze, stone, jeweler's brass, sterling silver, and 18-K gold.[14]

She has three bronzes in the White House and her work is included in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., including bronze sculptures "De Gaulle, Charles" and "Hand Holding Figures".[2][15][16]

She is included in the Dictionary of International Biography and Who's Who in American Art.[5] [add citations for both publications, which editions?]

https://fashioncalendar.fitnyc.edu/page/data?categories%5B%5D=United+States+of+America&year=1948 [something about this event where she was the fashion coordinator?]

Author and illustrator of Horsecapades or The Horse in Sport and Other Activities, The Tale Spin Press, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1993. https://www.iberlibro.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31152708935&cm_sp=SEARCHREC-_-WIDGET-L-_-BDP-F&searchurl=pn%3Dtale%2Bspin%2Bpress%26sortby%3D17 [not in worldcat, no record found in Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog]

“Fictionary” 1988 Tale Spin Press Greenwich, CT ( https://bid.igavelauctions.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=5367171 )

The Art of Tauni de Lesseps: A Collection of Sterling Silver and 18 Karat Gold Sculptures, F.J. Cooper, Inc., [1968] https://www.iberlibro.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30863663090

Alpha Omega Charitable Foundation Inc., founded in 1994. The foundation donated funds to establish the Classroom and Graphics Art Laboratory at Palm Beach Atlantic University.[17]

"Palm Beach Atlantic University Art Gallery, located in the Warren Library at Palm Beach Atlantic University, was made possible by a generous gift from Tauni de Lessep’s Alpha Omega Charitable Foundation Inc. Tauni de Lesseps"[18] [originally named the Tauni de Lessep's Gallery??]

She was a consultant at the National Art Museum of Sport and was honored as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University. [her husband, Dudley N. Schoales, was Cornell University class of 1929, made bequest to the university called the Schoales-de Lesseps Projects Initiation Fund, in honor of Schoales and his wife Tauni (de Lesseps) https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/27967/1/083_05.pdf ]

She was a member of the River Club in New York, the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, the Round Hill Club and Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich.[2][5]

[related to French entrepreneur Alexandre de Lesseps, who was also a descendent of Ferdinand de Lesseps]