Margaret Copley Thaw

Margaret Copley Thaw
Comtesse de Périgny
Born	(1877-01-09)January 9, 1877 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
Died	January 9, 1942(1942-01-09) (aged 65) Rift Valley Province, Kenya
Spouse(s)	George Lauder Carnegie ​ ​ (m. 1898; died 1921)​ Roger, Comte de Périgny ​ ​ (m. 1923)​
Parents	William Thaw Sr. Mary Sibbet Copley

Margaret Copley Thaw, Comtesse de Périgny (January 9, 1877 – January 9, 1942) was an American socialite and philanthropist.

Biography

Thaw was born on January 3, 1877, to William Thaw and Mary Sibbet Copley.[1] In 1898, she married George Lauder Carnegie (1876–1921), the nephew of industrialist Andrew Carnegie.[2]

In Paris on November 12, 1923, she married Roger, Comte de Périgny.[3] After they married, the couple lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York. In 1924, she was sued by Madeline Helen Modica of Newark for over an apparent affair with Madeline's husband, Emmanuel Victor Modica, a car salesman.[2] They later moved abroad[4] and spent their time between his Paris home and the farm and estate they built in 1926 on land at the Lake Naivasha known as Kongoni Farm. The farm was a 15,600 acre ranch.[3]

She died on January 9, 1942, at Kongoni Farm in what was then the British East African colony of Kenya.[5] The farm and a life interest in her $2,000,000 estate was left to her husband.[3]

References

1. "Kongoni". Retrieved 2010-12-29.
2. "Countess Perigny Sued For Alienation. Newark Woman Says Sister of Harry Thaw Stole Husband, an Auto Salesman". New York Times. February 10, 1924. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
3. "Count Roger De Perigny. British East Africa Rancher Married Carnegie Kin". New York Times. November 8, 1945. Retrieved 2010-12-29. ... was married to Count de Perigny in 1923, two years after the death of ... The ranch is to be shared by two nephews, George G. and William Thaw Whitney. ...
4. "COUNTESS PERIGNY SAILS FOR AFRICA; Process Servers Baffled by Bridal Couple Locked in Their Suite on the Duilio". The New York Times. February 16, 1924. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
5. "Countess De Perigny, Harry Thaws Sister. Widow of George L. Carnegie, Nephew of Steel Magnate". New York Times. January 10, 1942. Retrieved 2010-12-29. The Countess de Perigny, the former Mrs. Thaw of Pittsburgh and sister of Harry K. Thaw of Philadelphia, died yesterday at her home, Kongoni Farm, ...