Philanthropist and author Jean Shafiroff hosted her Annual Bastille Day Luncheon for 40 guests at Le Cirque in New York City to honor the French on their national holiday.
Shafiroff, wearing a pink and yellow silk Zac Posen dress, toasted the French giving a short speech honoring the 86 people who lost their lives to terrorism in Nice on Bastille Day one year ago. “United we stand, divided we fall”, said Shafiroff, the famous saying originally attributed to Aesop but then later used by several leaders in the United States including Abraham Lincoln.
A board member for approximately 6 years, she announced would give a donation to the French Heritage Society in honor of the French and her guests.
Bastille Day, the French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th’s Ancient Regime. By capturing this symbol the people signaled that the king’s authority should be limited by a separation of powers.
Attendees included: Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, fashion designers Zang Toi, Maggie Norris, Frederick Anderson and Victor de Souza, best-selling author Nina Burleigh, feature writers George Gurley and Darold Cuba, Sharon Bush, international decorator Geoffrey Bradfield, Ann Rapp, Roy Kean, Rachel Hirschfeld, Craig Dix, Larry Kaiser, Michele Herbert, Janna Bullock, Chiu-Ti Jansen, Lee Fryd, Natalie Ross, Margot Langenberg, Joan Judell, Marilyn Kirschner, Laurel Marcus and Joyce Brooks.
Pictured:
Jean Shafiroff, Marco Maccione, Sharon Bush, Margo Langenberg