Margaret Rockefeller Strong (1897–1985) was an American
heiress.
She was the daughter of
Elizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller (1866–1906) and Dr.
Charles Augustus Strong (1862–1940).
Her maternal grandfather was
Standard Oil co-founder
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
(1839–1937). She married Chilean ballet businessman
George de Cuevas
Jorge Cuevas Bartholín, known as George de Cuevas (1885 – 22 February 1961), was a Chilean-born ballet impresario and choreographer who was best known for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas that he formed in 1944.
Life and career
Cueva ...
on August 3, 1927; they had two children. After his death, she married Raymundo de
Larraín Larraín or Larrain is a surname of Basque origin.
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 71.1% of all known bearers of the surname ''Larraín'' were residents of Chile (frequency 1:4,907), 12.1% of Peru (1:52,191), 6.0% of Argentina (1:140,143), 4. ...
Valdés (1935–1988) in 1977.
Margaret saved a row of Neo-Federal townhouses on
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
designed by
McKim, Mead & White from destruction by purchasing the property and giving one of the townhouses to the
Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 1965. She then donated the corner townhouse to her cousin,
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
, who there founded the Center for Inter-American Relations, now the
Americas Society
The Americas Society is an organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue on the Americas. It is located at 680 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and was established by David Rockefeller in 1965. The Americas Society pr ...
. In December 1979, Margaret donated her father's estate,
Villa Le Balze in
Fiesole
Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times.
Sin ...
, Tuscany, Italy to
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
which operates an overseas campus there.
Villa Le Balze, Georgetown University in Fiesole Italy
Her life can be read at "El Inútil de la Familia", a book written by Jorge Edwards
Jorge Edwards Valdés (born June 29, 1931) is a Chilean novelist, journalist and diplomat. He was the Chilean ambassador to France during the first Piñera presidency.
Life and career
Edwards attended Law School at the Universidad de Chile.
D ...
, a Chilean writer.
Children
*Elisabeth Strong Cuevas
*John de Cuevas
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Margaret Rockefeller
1897 births
1985 deaths
Rockefeller family