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

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

socialite. 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 American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, Tunney drew international fame during the 1920s for her secret romance and subsequent marriage to world heavyweight boxing champion

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...

. 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; same as it, Brioni) are a group of fourteen small islands in the Croatian part of the northern Adriatic Sea, separated from the west coast of the Istrian peninsula by ...

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

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

and U.S. Senator from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

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 The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

and the National Wildlife Federation. Lauder died two weeks short of her 101st birthday in April 2008.

References

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