Elisabeth Brugnoni, a painter, talented seamstress, and gifted cook, moved to Amagansett in 1972 with her husband, Marc Brugnoni, and three daughters, and “immediately fell in love with her new home and the surroundings,” her family wrote. She appreciated the admiration for the land here and the area’s farmers and fishermen.
Mrs. Brugnoni, described as “a loving mother, a cherished wife, and a much-beloved friend,” died in her sleep on July 3 in Northampton, Mass. She was 83.
She was born during World War II in Chateauroux, France, on March 23, 1940, to Jacques Colmar and the former Madeleine Brosseau. Her family soon moved to Paris and eventually to Divonne-les-Bains, where her father became assistant to the high commissioner of refugees at the United Nations in Geneva.
After graduating with a baccalaureate degree at 19 in France, she traveled to the United States, where she enrolled in English classes at Columbia University and began painting in her spare time. It was there that she met her future husband. They were married on Sept. 23, 1960, in France, and moved to Roslyn, where their daughters were born.
As her enthusiasm for painting grew, she put her artistic energy into capturing the beauty of the seaside landscapes on the East End, “using the unique light as inspiration,” according to her family. With her talent for sewing, she became a go-to person for clothing alterations and repairs. Her cooking “always impressed family and friends.”
In 1977 she became a U.S. citizen.
She is survived by her husband, who lives in Amagansett, and by her daughters, Dian Breza of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, Elena Hanson of Hatfield, Mass., and Amanda Topping of Sagaponack. Also surviving are her five grandchildren, Sean Breza, Madeleine Breza, Nathaniel Hanson, Olivia Hanson, and Phoebe Topping, and her great-grandson, Finn Breza. Her brother, Yves Colmar, lives in Grilly, France.