Madeleine Ives Goddard

Madeleine Ives Goddard, Marquise d'Andigné, was an American socialite and nurse, born in Providence, Rhode Island, on 1 July 1874, the daughter of the banker and industrialist Robert Hale Ives Goddard. Although she was described as one of the richest of the American heiresses, she was not fond of society or social functions, and instead studied the violin, enjoyed sports and trained as a nurse. She became the Marquise d'Andigné on her marriage in 1906 and lived in France, where she used her nursing training as a volunteer during the First World War. With several other American women in Paris she co-founded and presided over Le Bien-être du Blessé, a national organization of volunteers that bought and delivered supplies to hospitals near the front and built and staffed hospital kitchens. She was decorated for heroism and received the Legion d'Honneur for her wartime service. In 1927 she and her brother gave Goddard Memorial State Park to Rhode Island in memory of their father. She died of cancer in 1931 at her brother's home in Providence, and left 100,000 dollars to the Rhode Island Foundation for the relief of incurables.