Magdeleine Goüin, countess Bernard de Ganay (2 March 1901 – 30 June 1949) was a French racing driver and philanthropist.
Goüin was born 2 March 1901 in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. She was a daughter of Édouard Goüin[1] and Suzanne du Buit (future countess of Segur-Lamoignon), and the sister of Henry Goüin, president of the Fondation Royaumont.[2]
As a racing driver, Goüin won the Rallye Paris – Saint-Raphaël Féminin in 1930 at the wheel of a Renault Reinastella type RM. [3] She finished second the following year at the Rally Paris-Amsterdam behind Suzanne Deutsch de La Meurthe.She became vice-president of the Automobile Club féminin de France, which was presided over at the time by Anne de Rochechouart de Mortemart. [4]
Goüin established and hosted "“The Rosy”, a charity tea party which raised funds for the work of Visiting Nurses of France (founded by her mother-in-law the Marquise de Ganay) and the dispensary of the Nelly-Martyl Foundation of the rue de Belleville. The tea parties were often held in luxury hotels, like the Hotel George V in Paris.[5] [6] [7]
In 1919, she married Count Bernard de Ganay, president of Polos de France, son of the Marquis Jean de Ganay and Berthe de Béhague and grandson of Etienne, Marquis de Ganay.[8] [9]
She died on 30 June 1949 in Casablanca, Morocco, age 48.
Her granddaughter Christine de Ganay was first married to Pal Sarkozy, and then to Frank G. Wisner. Goüin’s great-grandchildren include Olivier Sarkozy. [10] [11]