Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Philanthropist Nancy Kissinger, a former foreign policy researcher and the wife of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, has died at the age of 92. She died on Thursday at her home in Kent, Connecticut, according to Robert Johnson, manager of the property.
The cause of death was not disclosed. Johnson said she would be buried next to her late husband at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Nancy Kissinger was a familiar figure in New York philanthropy and was also known for her years in government-related work.
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The daughter of a New York City lawyer, she met Henry Kissinger while working for New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The two first met in the mid-1960s, when Henry Kissinger was a consultant for Rockefeller and she was on the staff of Rockefeller’s Commission on Critical Choices for America. They married on March 30, 1974, in a civil ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, while Henry Kissinger was serving as secretary of state in the Nixon administration.
After leaving Washington, the couple returned to New York and lived in homes in Manhattan and Kent, Connecticut. Nancy Kissinger was often seen at high-fashion openings and was a strong presence on the New York philanthropy scene. She was once described by a profiler as a “brainy, Blass-bedecked blonde”. Philanthropist Judy Peabody said after chairing a successful hospital charity event in 1989, “Nancy Kissinger can pick up the phone and get right through to the CEO. Nobody keeps her waiting.”
Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and a friend of the Kissingers, said in a social media post that Nancy Kissinger “was a powerhouse of ideas and insights that she put to work throughout her life in government and philanthropy – and as Henry’s most valued and trusted advisor.” He added, “She was the ultimate diplomat – as wise as she was discreet – and I know how completely Henry admired and loved her. Diana and I were fortunate to call her a dear friend, and to see their extraordinary partnership in action over the decades. We will miss her greatly.”
Nancy Kissinger also made headlines in 1982 after she tried to throttle a woman who harassed her and her husband with insulting questions at Newark Airport. The couple had been travelling to Boston, where Henry Kissinger was to undergo bypass surgery. The woman, a leafleter for a group affiliated with politician Lyndon LaRouche, accused Nancy Kissinger of choking both her throat and her free-speech rights. Nancy Kissinger said she only wanted to protect her husband from upset. A judge later acquitted her of assault and called her behaviour “a spontaneous and somewhat human reaction to an offensive question.”
Born Nancy Sharon Maginnes, she grew up in White Plains with two brothers and a horse on an estate owned by her Episcopalian Park Avenue lawyer father. She studied at Good Counsel Academy in White Plains and the Master’s School in Dobbs Ferry, graduating in 1951. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1955, she returned to the Master’s School to teach history for two years. She later pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, before going to work for Rockefeller.
Nancy Kissinger’s life spanned work in public affairs, philanthropy and decades alongside one of America’s best-known diplomats, and she remained a prominent figure in New York and beyond until her death.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
