{{Short description|American diplomat (1930–2024)}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Celebrating the National Museum of American Diplomacy at the Esther Coopersmith Residence.jpg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Coopersmith (left) with Nancy Pelosi in 2023 | birth_name = Esther Lipsen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|01|18}} | birth_place = Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|03|26|1930|01|18}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | spouse = {{marriage|end=died|Jack Coopersmith|1954|1991}} | children = 4 | occupation = {{hlist|Diplomat|political lobbyist}} | years_active = 1952–2023 | title = UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador (since 2009) }}
'''Esther Lipsen Coopersmith''' (January 18, 1930 – March 26, 2024) was an American diplomat, philanthropist, political lobbyist, and a champion for women's equality. For over 70 years, she organized gatherings, from small dinners to grand formal ones, across the world. Her guest list varied from politicians and visiting royals to academics and actors. In 2009, UNESCO named her a goodwill ambassador for "fostering intercultural dialogue".<ref name="TWDCoopersmith">{{cite web |last1=Luxner |first1=Larry |title=Esther Coopersmith reflects on her legacy of 'bringing people together' |url=https://washdiplomat.com/esther-coopersmith-reflects-on-her-legacy-of-bringing-people-together/ |publisher=The Washington Diplomat |access-date=March 29, 2024 |date=October 4, 2022}}</ref><ref name="ELC">{{cite web |title=Esther Lipsen Coopersmith |url= https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/esther-coopersmith-obituary?id=54737918 |website=Legacy.com |access-date=March 29, 2024 |date=March 28, 2024}}</ref>
==Early years== Esther Lipsen was born on January 18, 1930, in Des Moines, Iowa; her father was an emigrant cattle dealer from present-day Moldova and her mother was a homemaker from Romania.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> They moved to Mazomanie, Wisconsin, and Lipsen became interested in politics at age 8, after listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats on the radio.<ref name="ELC" /> After graduating from high school, she studied at the University of Denver and later at the University of Wisconsin, where she joined the Young Democrats of America.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langer |first1=Emily |title=Esther Coopersmith, Washington diplomat and doyenne, dies at 94 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/03/28/esther-coopersmith-washington-dead/ |publisher=The Washington Post |access-date=March 29, 2024 |date=March 28, 2024}}</ref> She became actively involved in politics in 1952, when she filled in to chair an event for the presidential Democratic hopeful, Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver, who went on to win the Wisconsin primary election and 11 of the 15 others across the country, even defeating sitting President Harry S. Truman, who then withdrew his re-election campaign.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> Kefauver asked Lipsen to open and manage a campaign office for the Chicago convention. Not having any experience with such a job, she asked a rival politician's aides for advice. Despite Kefauver's popularity and campaign success, he lost the Democratic nomination to Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson II. Lipsen then organized Young Democrat campaign clubs to support Stevenson. Although Kefauver invited her to Washington, D.C., in 1954, he did not hire her, despite his desire to run in future presidential elections.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" />
==Wife, diplomat, and ambassador== While in Washington, D.C., Lipsen met real estate developer Jack Coopersmith. They married in 1954 and had four children within 8 years.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> In 1964, Jack remained in Washington, while Esther traveled the country for President Lyndon B. Johnson's family, hosting barbecues for his two daughters. She also served as one of Johnson's White House staff.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" />
Coopersmith’s home became a well known gathering place for the elite of the Democratic Party. At her home she hosted every US president from Harry Truman to Joe Biden (excepting Donald Trump).<ref>{{cite book |last=Walker |first1=Hunter |last2=Luppen |first2=Luppe B. |title=The Truce: Progressives, Centrists, and the Future of the Democratic Party |chapter=Kalorama |publisher=W. W. norton & Company |year=2024 }}</ref>
In 1972, she supported Joe Biden when he ran in the United States Senate election. She even hosted a fundraiser for him at her home in 2023.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> During the 1978 Camp David Accords with President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Coopersmith hosted a party for the news media. One year later, Carter appointed her as a representative of the U.S. for the United Nations (UN), her first paying job since the 1950s.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> In 1984, the UN awarded her its Peace Medal, making her only the second woman at the time to receive the honor.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" /> In 1991, she accompanied then-governor Bill Clinton to Moscow to improve his knowledge of foreign policy for his plans to run for the U.S. presidency.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" />
In 2009, UNESCO named Coopersmith a Goodwill Ambassador "in light of her outstanding contribution to strengthening mutual understanding between peoples and her unfailing commitment to fostering intercultural dialogue."<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /><ref name="ELC" />
==Personal life== [[File:Coopersmith residence, Washington, D.C..jpg|thumb|Coopersmith's home in Kalorama Heights, Washington, D.C.|150px]] Following her husband Jack's death in 1991, Coopersmith sold their home in Potomac, Maryland, and bought and renovated a house in Kalorama Heights in D.C.<ref name="TWDCoopersmith" /> She rarely ventured from it, however that didn't affect her desire to be diplomatic. She turned it into a museum of sorts, displaying all the memorabilia she collected over the years, and hosted dignitaries for between 50 and 75 events in it. Her last trip abroad was in 2023 to celebrate the U.S. re-entering UNESCO.<ref name="ELC" />
Coopersmith died from cancer at her home on March 26, 2024, at age 94.<ref name="ELC"/><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/us/esther-coopersmith-dead.html|title = Esther Coopersmith, 94, Washington Diplomat at Her Dinner Table, Dies|date = April 1, 2024|page = B5|last = Seelye|first = Katharine Q.|accessdate = April 1, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.unanca.org/about-us/advisory-council/esther-coopersmith Profile at UNA-CNA] * [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/28/statement-from-president-biden-on-the-passing-of-esther-coopersmith/ Statement from President Biden on the Passing of Esther Coopersmith] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCsKUM1VCW4 Coopersmith's 90 birthday celebration] on YouTube
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coopersmith, Esther}} Category:1930 births Category:2024 deaths Category:American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American women diplomats Category:People from Des Moines, Iowa Category:People from Mazomanie, Wisconsin Category:UNESCO goodwill ambassadors Category:University of Denver alumni Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Category:People from Kalorama (Washington, D.C.)