Simone Del Duca was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 businesswoman, a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts

Académie des beaux-arts

The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:* Académie de peinture et de sculpture...

, and major philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. Married to French publishing magnate Cino Del Duca

Cino Del Duca

Cino Del Duca was an Italian-born businessman film producer and philanthropist who moved to France in 1923 where he made a fortune in the French publishing business.-Biography:...

, on his death in 1967 she was left with a considerable fortune. Although she remained on the Board of Directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of her late husband's companies, Simone Del Duca devoted a great deal of her time to philanthropic causes. In 1969 she established a prestigious literary prize in her husband's name. The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca

Prix mondial Cino Del Duca

The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca is an international literary award.-Origins and operations:It was established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca to continue the work of her husband, publishing magnate Cino Del Duca .Designed to recognize and reward an author whose work constitutes, in a...

 provides a substantial cash prize and was made open to qualified persons from anywhere in the world.

Simone Del Duca's charitable activities increased to where in 1975 she created the Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation

Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation

The Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation is a charitable foundation based in Paris, France. It was established in 1975 by Simone Del Duca , widow of publishing magnate Cino Del Duca...

. The Foundation's primary involvements gave support for scientific research and after being made a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1994 she funded two major prizes in visual arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

 and music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 awarded through the Académie. Simone Del Duca's philanthropic work was recognized by the government of France who made her a commander of the Legion of Honor.

Thoroughbred racing

Beyond her husband's business and her charitable foundation, Simone Del Duca continued to own and operate their Haras de Quétiéville thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 stable

Stable

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

 and stud farm

Stud farm

A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...

 in Biéville-Quétiéville

Biéville-Quétiéville

Biéville-Quétiéville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

, Calvados

Calvados

The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...

. Located in the Basse-Normandie

Basse-Normandie

Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...

 region, an area famous for its many important horse farms, she bred horses that raced at the Deauville

Deauville

Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...

 racecourse. Her colt, Herbager

Herbager

Herbager was a French Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire in both France and the United States. He was sired by Vandale, a stayer who won the 1946 Prix du Conseil Municipal and whom Herbager would help make the 1959 Leading sire in France. His dam was Flagette who was inbred...

 won the 1959 French Classic

French Classic Races

In France, the Classics of horse racing are a series of Group One Thoroughbred horse races run annually on the flat. The four races are organized by France Galop.The Prix de Diane is restricted to filles....

, the Prix du Jockey Club

Prix du Jockey Club

The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

, and was named French Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. In 1962, her horse Soltikoff won France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...

. Another of her horses, Marly River, won 1987 French Horse of the Year honors in hurdling

Steeplechase (horse racing)

The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...

.

Simone Del Duca died in 2004 at the age of 91 and was interred with her husband in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.