Lady Cochrane Sursock

Yvonne, Lady Cochrane (née Sursock) is a philanthropist, a prominent public figure and advocate of the arts in Lebanon, and a member of the historic Sursock family.

Family
Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon

She was born on May 18, 1922, the only daughter of Alfred Bey Sursock, a Lebanese aristocrat, and Donna Maria Theresa Serra di Cassano, the daughter of Francesco Serra, 7th Duke of Cassano. In 1946, she married Sir Desmond Cochrane, 3rd Baronet.[1]

Philanthropy

She was president of the committee and general manager of the Sursock Museum in Beirut from 1960 until 1966. She founded the Association for the Protection of the Natural Sites and Ancient Buildings (French: Association pour la protection des sites et anciennes demeures; APSAD) in Lebanon and was its president from 1960 until 2002.[1]

Her work today focuses on projects that seek to reduce Lebanese emigration and to support people in their villages of origin, by creating jobs for them in the fields of agriculture, textiles and handcrafts.[1] She is also involved in the protection of the natural environment in Lebanon and in the preservation of the country's unique architectural and cultural heritage.[1]

She is the owner of Sursock House, plus a broad swath of property along Rue Sursock, up to the trendy Rue Gouraud.[2]

References
  1. Lady Cochrane Sursock: Information and Much More from Answers.com
  2. (in French) Gemmayzeh : is the quarter becoming 'less and less convivial'?

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.