Polly Lauder Tunney (born Mary Josephine Lauder; April 24, 1907 – April 12, 2008) was an American

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

. An heiress to the United States Steel fortune through her grandfather George Lauder and her great-uncle

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, Tunney drew international fame during the 1920s for her secret romance and subsequent marriage to world heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney. She almost died on her honeymoon of an abscessed appendicitis on the Croatian Islands of

Brijuni The Brijuni () or the Brijuni Islands (also known as the Brionian Islands; ) are a group of fourteen small islands in the Croatian part of the northern Adriatic Sea, separated from the west coast of the Istria, Istrian peninsula by the narrow Fa ...

. They had four children, including John V. Tunney (1934-2018), who was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

and

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

from 1965 until 1977. Tunney was an active supporter of the arts. She served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera Guild from 1951 to 1970 alongside her first cousin G. Lauder Greenway and was the board's vice president from 1956 to 1959. She was later a member of the Guild's emeritus council from 1970 to 1992. She was also a major benefactor of the Audubon Society and the

National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization in the United States, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (i ...

. Lauder died two weeks short of her 101st birthday in April 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauder Tunney, Polly American women centenarians Lauder Greenway family American socialites 1907 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American women philanthropists