Janet Jennings Auchincloss Rutherfurd (June 13, 1945 – March 13, 1985) was an American socialite. She was the half sister of the former

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

, and socialite Princess

Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Radziwill (; March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady of the ...

Early life

Auchincloss was born in New York City, the daughter of stockbroker Hugh D. Jr. and socialite Janet Auchincloss (née Lee). She was named after her mother (and was referred to as "Janet, Jr" by friends and family) while her middle name was in honor of her paternal grandmother, Emma Jennings. She had a younger brother, James Lee (known as "Jamie", born in 1947). In addition to elder half-sisters Jacqueline and Caroline (known as "Lee"), from her mother's first marriage to stockbroker John "Black Jack" Bouvier III, she had three elder half-siblings from her father's previous marriages: Hugh III (known as "Yusha", 1927–2015), Nina, and Thomas "Tommy" Auchincloss (born 1937). In the winter of 1945, Auchincloss was christened at the St. John Episcopal Church in The Plains, Virginia, and was raised in the faith. She was educated at the Potomac School in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population of the community was 50,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is ...

, and

Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The populati ...

, the

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

of her half-sisters Jacqueline and Lee. She went on to study music history at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

before leaving in 1966 to marry. Before meeting her future husband, Auchincloss briefly dated future Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. On August 17, 1963, Auchincloss was formally presented to society at a ball held at Hammersmith Farm, her childhood home in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

Personal life

On July 30, 1966, she married Lewis Polk Rutherfurd, a recent graduate of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and future financier. Lewis was the son of Winthrop Rutherfurd Jr. of New York and Fishers Island, the grandson of Frank L. Polk, the

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking of ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's cabinet, and the great-grandson of

Levi P. Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as List of ambassadors of the United States to France, United States ambassador to France, as a United States H ...

, the former

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

and

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

under

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

. They had three children: *Lewis Stuyvesant Rutherfurd *Andrew Hugh Auchincloss Rutherfurd *Alexandra Rutherfurd

Later years and death

In 1966, the Rutherfurds moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

where Auchincloss Rutherfurd taught French at

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

for two years. She also was an adviser and stockholder for the

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm her husband co-founded and managed, Inter-Asia Venture Management. She later founded an overseas chapter of the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

. In August 1984, Auchincloss Rutherfurd was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. Despite undergoing aggressive treatments, the cancer spread to her brain and pancreas. On March 13, 1985, she died at

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

at the age of 39. Her private funeral was held on March 19 at the Trinity Church in

, after which she was buried at Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery.

Footnotes

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherfurd, Janet Jennings Auchincloss 1945 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American Episcopalians American expatriates in Hong Kong American socialites Auchincloss family Burials at Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery Deaths from lung cancer in Massachusetts Miss Porter's School alumni Socialites from Newport, Rhode Island Socialites from New York City Rutherfurd family Sarah Lawrence College alumni