Doris Duke

Doris Duke, (November 22, 1912 ? October 28, 1993) was an American heiress and philanthropist.

Death

Although she gave away a considerable amount of money to charities during her lifetime, Doris Duke had invested wisely and on her passing in 1993 -- at the age of 80 following a series of debilitating strokes, although conspiracy theories abounded at the time with suspicion falling on Bernard Lafferty, her Irish-born butler, who had considerable influence in the Duke household -- she left virtually all of her estimated US$1.3 billion estate to the Foundation to continue with charitable works. Her extensive travels had led to an interest in the variety of cultures she encountered and over her lifetime she acquired a considerable collection of Islamic and Southeast Asian art. Her homes all became part of her charitable foundation and the Shangri La property in Hawaii is now a museum supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

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