Medora von Hoffman
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Medora von Hoffman (August 21, 1856 - 1921), also known as the Marquise de Mores, was the daughter of wealthy New York banker Louis von Hoffman and the wife of Antoine Amédée-Marie-Vincent Manca de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Mores. They had three children, daughter Athenais, born in 1883, son Louis, born in 1885; and son Paul, born in France in 1890.
The town of Medora, North Dakota, founded in 1883, was named in her honor. The Marquis's meat packing plant failed and the town fell into a decline after the family left. However, the story of the Marquis de Mores and Medora are now featured in The Medora Musical held every summer in Medora, a major tourist town in the North Dakota Badlands. The 26-room ranch house the Marquis built for his heiress wife, known as the Chateau de Mores, has been restored and tours of it are given.
The Marquise de Mores lived in both Paris and Cannes, France after the death of the Marquis de Mores. During World War I, she turned her home into a hospital for wounded soldiers. She died in 1921 of a leg injury she received while working as a nurse. The wound never fully healed.
