VICENTE, HARRIET
VICENTE--Harriet. The Board of Directors, the Scientific Council members and the staff of NARSAD/The Mental Health Research Association (the world's largest philanthropic organization funding research on the causes, treatments and prevention of mental illnesses) mourn the death of our extraordinary, dedicated board member emeritus. Harriet joined the NARSAD board in 1992 at an early stage of our organization's program of providing research grants for the most promising research in our field. She was an active board member until taking an emeritus role in 2007. She was always a generous donor, providing support for outstanding young scientists engaged in breakthrough research, especially those with important new studies in genetics focused on the causes of severe mental disorders. She became a Research Partner supporting specific young scientists at pivotal moments in their research careers. Promising faculty members of Columbia and Rockefeller Universities were beneficiaries of her directed grant support. She particularly supported outstanding research progress in Spain, the homeland of her late husband, the distinguished artist Esteban Vicente. Beyond her financial support to scientists she gave them wise counsel and new opportunities. While serving as a director and an active donor, she also organized and led events to bring information about NARSAD's sponsored new research to her wide circle of acquaintances. She spoke to all enthusiastically against stigma and for possibilities of better treatments and cures for mental illnesses. Harriet Vicente's deep concern for those suffering for mental illness and her ever constructive efforts to help them were admired by all in our organization. We join all who knew her in deep sorrow at her passing. Geoffrey Birkett, President Constance E. Lieber, President Emeritus Herbert Pardes M.D., President of NARSAD Scientific Council Thomas Rabaut, Chairman
VICENTE--Harriet, in her 87th year, died peacefully on October 4 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Harriet was born on April 6, 1921, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, the elder daughter of Philip and Eva (Goell) Godfrey. She is survived by her sister, Ellen Marquis of San Francisco, her niece Tessa (Michael Brown), her nephew David (Beth), her great-nieces and nephews Nathaniel and Michael Leeds (Kiren) and Sophia Lee, the children of her deceased niece Lisa Lee (Arthur), and Mina Ebtehadj Marquis. An insatiable traveler since early childhood trips to Europe with her parents, with deep engagement during her adult years in a broad range of activities in, among other places, Spain, Israel and Turkey as well as in the United States, Harriet remained throughout her life an unabashedly enthusiastic New Yorker. Harriet's involvement in the art world began in the late 1940s when she and her then husband, Donald Peters (deceased 1960) became investors in the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery and assembled a notable collection of the then emerging New York school of abstract expressionist artists and European masters represented by Kootz. In 1958, while working as a volunteer in the Leo Castelli Gallery, she was introduced to Esteban Vicente who was having a show of his drawings at the gallery. In 1961, a year after her husband's death, she and Esteban were married. A committed Zionist since youth, Harriet, under the auspices of the Jerusalem Foundation, sponsored two projects with the aim of promoting peace between the Jewish and Arab communities. In 1980, she sponsored a playground in memory of her late daughter, Alison Peters, on the boundary between the two communities to provide a safe place for Arab and Jewish children to come together to play. A month before her death, Harriet provided additional funding to restore and enhance the park and provide for its future upkeep. Since 2003, Harriet has also sponsored the Independent Skills Program for young Arab women at the Beit David Community Center, located in the Arab Wadi Joz neighborhood of Jerusalem. Harriet was a founding member and on the Executive Board of the Women's Division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004. From 1992 until her retirement to Emeritus status in 2006, Harriet served as a board member of NARSAD, The Mental Health Research Association, which is the world's largest nongovernmental agency funding research on the causes, treatment and prevention of mental illness, including schizophrenia, depression and a range of other serious neuropsychiatric disorders. Long interested in developing ties with Spain, in 1997 Harriet supported a NARSAD Young Investigators Award to Dr. Enrique Baca - Garcia, a young Spanish researcher who went on to become one of the most influential persons in introducing advanced psychiatric knowledge and treatment to the Iberian Peninsula. Last year, she provided support for Dr. Garcia's sabbatical year spent at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry in New York updating his knowledge of cutting-edge methodologies to take back to his university in Madrid. In 1998, Harriet was instrumental in the founding by the Province of Segovia of the Esteban Vicente Museum of Contemporary Art in Segovia, Spain, Esteban's birthplace. The museum and community center was made possible by the joint gift of Harriet and Esteban of 150 of Vicente's works. Harriet was Honorary President of the museum whose governing board is a consortium of public officials from the national, regional, provincial and city governments, as well as corporate and private members. The regional government of Castile-Leon has recently funded a major expansion of the museum in connection with which Harriet undertook to provide the annual operating budget of the new addition. In 1999, the King of Spain awarded Harriet, together with Esteban, the Gran Cruz de la Orden de Alfonso X el Sabio (Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise), a decoration established in 1902 to honor extraordinary contributions by Spaniards or foreigners to Spanish education, science, culture and research. In 2000, Harriet endowed an annual Vicente fellowship to enable mid-career Spanish artists to live and work at Yaddo, the artists' community in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 2002, Harriet joined The Rockefeller University Council, the University's most distinguished group of benefactors and friends, where she established the Esteban Vicente Postdoctoral Fellowship for young investigators in the field of mental illness. She has also been a generous supporter of the University's Women & Science initiative. In 2006 Harriet was instrumental in the creation in P.S. 170 of an in-school and after-school program of music and art. P.S. 170 is an early childhood public school in the South Bronx with a predominantly Hispanic population. By a vote of the parents, the name of the school has been changed to the Esteban Vicente School, with the purpose of encouraging identification of the students with a highly successful and distinguished Hispanic artist. In accordance with Harriet's wishes, her ashes will be buried, beside those of Esteban, in the garden of the Vicente museum in Segovia on a date to be determined. The interment will be open to any who may wish to attend. A memorial will be held in New York also at a later date. Contributions in Harriet's honor may be made to NARSAD at 60 Cutter Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11021 or to the Harriet and Esteban Vicente Foundation at 501 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1803, New York, NY 10017.
VICENTE--Harriet. To the students, staff and parents of The Esteban Vicente School, Harriet was an inspiring presence and a true believer in the power of art to inspire and motivate children. When PS 170, an Early Childhood School in the South Bronx, voted in 2006 to change its name to The Esteban Vicente School, Mrs. Vicente responded. She was instrumental in helping us further her husband's legacy and support our mission to educate children both academically and creatively. Mrs. Vicente shared her energy and belief in art's transformative power with our children and inspired them to think of art as an essential part of their lives. Thanks to her generous support, The Esteban Vicente School now offers yearlong dance, visual arts, songwriting and music programs for all children. Our community will always fondly remember our abuela, Harriet Vicente. The Students, Staff and Parents of The Esteban Vicente School
VICENTE--Harriet. The Board of Directors of the Esteban Vicente Museum of Contemporary Art deeply regrets the loss of its Honorary President, Harriet Vicente. Her kindness, enthusiasm and experience in the art world were as valuable as her economic support. We, who had the pleasure and honor of meeting her either in business meetings or informal situations want to emphasize her genius in identifying priorities and challenges. Especially interested in education, she often expressed her desire to strengthen that area in our institution. Her constant aim was to insure that the youngest children could gain access to the art world and, on the other hand that the artists could work with both passion and means. Regarding the latter, we must remember her biannual sponsorship of a Yaddo fellowship, which allowed a Spanish artist to spend a month in an extraordinary residency for creators. We are indebted to her for her joint donation, with Esteban Vicente, of 152 works for the permanent collection of the museum, as well as the subsequent donations she made of other works by Esteban plus his personal library. Above all, we are indebted to her for her generous sponsorship of the museum, undoubtedly the most important cultural institution in Castile Leon. For these contributions, among others, in 1999 she was awarded the Gran Cruz de la Orden de Alfonso X. Her indefatigable dedication to the arts, her personal charm and her loyalty to the museum, in addition to an innate intelligence that had not decreased with the passage of years, make her departure especially sad. Therefore, we want to join in their sorrow all those who enjoyed her friendship, love and generosity. Javier Santamara, Pres. Provincial Council of Segovia Pedro Arahuetes, Mayor, City of Segovia Jos Jimnez, Ministry of Culture Mara Jos Salgueiro, Minister of Culture of Castile Leon Manuel Escribano Soto, Director de Caja de Ahorros de Segovia Jos Antonio Lopez, CEO, Iberpistas, S.A Carlos Mara Martnez, Director, Caja de Madrid Ambassador Jos Luis Pardos Fernando Escard Elvira Gonzalez Jos Mara Parreo, Director of the Museum Atilano Soto, Founder President of the Museum
VICENTE--Harriet. The Rockefeller University deeply mourns the loss of Harriet Vicente, a cherished member of The Rockefeller University Council. We are fortunate to have known this warm and generous - hearted woman. Harriet embraced the research of scientists working at the frontiers of biomedicine by establishing the Esteban Vicente Postdoctoral Fellowship for talented young investigators conducting research related to mental illness. A tireless ambassador and advocate for Rockefeller, she was also a generous supporter of the University's Women & Science initiative. We celebrate Harriet's keen intellect, her wit, and her great generosity, and compassion for artists in all walks of life. Harriet believed that scientists are creative individuals, and she was attracted by the University's commitment to nurturing scientific creativity and its integration of the arts and humanities with science. In 2003, Harriet Vicente donated to the University a vibrant abstract painting entitled Tremor by her late husband, Esteban Vicente. Given on the 100th anniversary of Esteban Vicente's birth, Tremor will be a permanent reminder to the University community of this unique and remarkable woman, and her intrepid and ever - fascinating journey through life. Harriet, herself, was an artist at friendships. She will be greatly missed by the Rockefeller community. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and all who loved her. David Rockefeller, Honorary Chairman Richard Furlaud, Chairman Emeritus and Council Chair Paul Nurse, President Torsten Wiesel, President Emeritus Marnie Imhoff, Vice President The Rockefeller University