Marguerite (Marguey) Tabor Yates was born on Valentine’s Day, 1953, in Cambridge, England, where her father John Sellers Yates was studying law. She grew up in bucolic Todt Hill, New York, and later, on the then rough-edged upper West Side. She obtained her baccalauréat de français from New York’s lycée; the bac de philo from Rome’s Lycée Châteaubriand. At Yale her early interest in Greek turned into passion for the Middle East. This inspired her adventures as an au pair in the Farmanfarmaian family of Tehran, and then as an English teacher in the remote Druze village of Khalwat Falougha, Lebanon. During the Lebanese Civil War, she worked as a journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting System. One of the ablest Arabists of her generation, she studied at the American University of Cairo as a Fullbright fellow, obtained an MA from New York University and began a doctorate program at Columbia University. She supported herself with loans and part time jobs.
Her life’s trajectory changed when an ATT utility truck knocked her off her bicycle and put her in the hospital. On release, she had stitches in her shoulder and a new love interest: David Chaffetz. This turned into a lifelong commitment. On the other hand, Marguey's commitment to Arabic wavered, in face of her mounting student loans. She dropped out of Columbia to join Chase Manhattan Bank, originally working in wealth management for wealthy Emiratis, and later in trade finance. At night, she earned an MBA from NYU, paid for by Chase.
Her talent attracted the attentions of Chase Paris, which offered her a job on Place Vendome. Characteristically, where others might have jumped at this offer, she explored many job opportunities in Paris before settling on the storied Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas. Paris, she reasoned, was half-way back from New York to the Middle East.
Paribas, however, provided her with many years of professional growth in commercial lending, securities lending and finally as head of compliance. The merger between BNP and Paribas prompted her to move, first to AXA asset management and then to the French equivalent of the SEC, the AMF. There she led investigations into market abuses by asset managers. Always able to squeeze more into a day, she also earned an English law degree.
Marguey married David in 1984 just before moving to Paris. The newlyweds set up home in a dilapidated building near the former Central Market, Les Halles. They discovered France on bicycle, visiting almost every prefecture during weekend cycling excursions. When Edward (1987) and then Simon (1990) came into the world, Les Halles proved to be a sociable, child-friendly neighborhood. Marguey made it axiomatic to work within walking distance of their school, enabling her to juggle professional responsibilities with motherhood. She made it a point of serenading on the piano her children to sleep each night. During the day, she enjoyed the tireless help of Lorna Madriaga and then her husband, Dominador Nolasco. She became godmother to their daughter, Rose-Valerie, born in 1997.
Marguey adopted a steady rhythm of travels, including summer holidays in the century-old Yates camp in Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania, February skiing in the Dolomite village of San Virgilio di Marebbe, and August pilgrimages to the Wagner festival in Bayreuth. Marguey also committed herself to her neighborhood in Paris, serving on the local school board and tithing at the Church Saint Eustache. Her brother Jeremy’s struggle with mental illness inspired Marguey to collaborate on the creation of the Parisian branch of Fountain House. This was a first, and initially decried as an impossible, replication of an innovative American approach to treating sufferers of manic depression and schizophrenia.
With her children grown, by 2013, her wanderlust stirred again though the Middle East remained elusive. She retired from the AMF, and became a consultant for the IMF, the World Bank, and other multilateral banking institutions, with missions in the Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Namibia, Philippines and Vietnam. In parallel, and exceptionally, HSBC Hong Kong recruited her to lead market compliance for Asia. David joined her in Hong Kong, where they enjoyed the spectacular harbour view in Kennedy Town, and easy access to Asia's fabled destinations. The Far, not the Middle East, provided her with a sense of renewal and accomplishment.
After five years, though, Hong Kong proved too far from family. Memorable dinners in Macau inspired Marguey to move to Portugal. Looking out on the ocean into which the Portuguese embarked on so many voyages made Marguey mindful of her past and planned adventures. In 2020 she bought a plot of land with a haunting sea view, to build a big house for hosting family and friends.
In May 2022, Marguey experienced uncharacteristic difficulties in completing a consultancy assignment. Rushed to the emergency services of Paris’ Salpêtrière hospital, she underwent a craniotomy; the biopsy revealed she had the deadliest form of brain cancer, high grade Glioblastoma.
Nevertheless, Marguey bounced back from the operation, radio- and chemotherapy in order to participate in Edward’s wedding to Niyanta Dattani in August, 2022, to welcome the Yates & Cacciato families for Christmas in Paris, to celebrate her 70th birthday in a former lupanar with over 70 friends, and even to go cross-country skiing in the Dolomites. In June 2023, with her strength failing, she managed to visit her new grandchild, Rami Sellers Chaffetz, in London.
Marguey died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Paris September 9th, 2023.
She is survived by a disconsolate David Chaffetz, Edward and grandson Rami Chaffetz of London, Simon Chaffetz of Paris, her mother Marguerite Yates and sister Natalie Yates Cacciato of New York, and brothers John Yates of Boston and Christopher Yates of Hudson, MA. Her loyalty to her friends leaves many with a tearful eye. Her house by the sea, Pó do Mar, will be open to all.