Olgivanna Wright, Widow of the Famous Architect
Olgivanna Wright, 87-year-old widow of pioneering architect Frank Lloyd Wright, died Friday after suffering a heart attack.
Mrs. Wright had been recovering from a bout of pneumonia, according to Charles Montooth, a staff architect at Taliesin West, an architectural training school founded by the Wrights.
Born in Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Mrs. Wright was educated in Russia. She moved to the United States in 1924 and she and Wright were married in 1928.
Together, the Wrights established the Taliesin Foundation in 1932, an experiment in education where students learned architecture through building. Six years later, they moved to Scottsdale, where the Wrights and their team pitched tents and began to construct the Taliesin West campus, Montooth said.
Mrs. Wright took over the school and became president and chairman of the foundation’s board upon her husband’s death in 1959, Montooth said. She stepped down last week and appointed William Wesley Peters to the position.
Survivors include a daughter, Iovanna Lloyd Wright, and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. today at the school, Montooth said, adding that the body will be cremated as Mrs. Wright requested.
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