Deborah Szekely ('' née'' Shainman, born May 3, 1922) is an American activist, philanthropist, and writer active in Southern California. She was named the "Godmother of Wellness" by the '' Huffington Post''. Szekely founded the New Americans Museum in

Liberty Station Liberty Station is a mixed-use development in San Diego, California, on the site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego. It is located in the Point Loma community of San Diego. It has a waterfront location, on a boat channel off of San Diego ...

Biography

Szekely was the daughter of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants. Her mother was a past vice-president of the New York Vegetarian Society. Szekely worked as an assistant to Edmond Bordeaux Szekely. They were married in 1939. In 1940, the couple opened a camp in Tecate,

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, which they named Rancho la Puerta, where they could explore and test their ideas. The couple had two children, Alexander and Sarah Livia. In 1958, Szekely opened the Golden Door, a smaller luxury spa property in San Diego and moved to

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

in the 70's. The spa attracted famous individuals such as

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

, Elizabeth Taylor,

Zsa Zsa Gabor Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she ...

, Burt Lancaster, Oprah Winfrey and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

. In 1970, she and Edmund divorced and Szekely took over the operation of the Rancho la Puerta. She founded (COMBO), Combined Arts and Education Council of San Diego County in 1978, which has raised over $25 million to support 21 cultural organizations. In 1978, COMBO raised over $6 million to rebuild the Old Globe Theatre. Szekely was a U.S. Diplomat and the head of the

Inter-American Foundation The Inter-American Foundation, or IAF, is an independent agency of the United States government that funds community-led development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was created through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969Women's Museum of California The Women's Museum of California (WMC) is a nonprofit museum located in San Diego, California and dedicated to women's history. It was first organized under the names the Women's History Reclamation Project and then the Women's History Museum and ...

, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Women's Center at UC San Diego, and the Department of Women's Studies at San Diego State University.

Personal life

Szekely has been a vegetarian since the age of 4."After Living, Traveling, and Learning Her Way to 100, Deborah Szekely Has Some Advice for You"
afar.com. Retrieved 1 January 2023. She supports tree planting. Szekely turned 100 on May 3, 2022.

Selected publications

*''Secrets of the Golden Door'' (1977) *''Golden Door Cookbook: The Greening of American Cuisine'' (1982) *''Vegetarian Spa Cuisine from Rancho LA Puerta'' (1992) *''Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szekely, Deborah 1922 births 21st-century American Jews Living people American centenarians American philanthropists People from San Diego Women centenarians