Peter Mansbach

Peter was born in New York City on May 24, 1937, and raised in Brooklyn. An intrepid lover of life’s adventure, he served as a lifeguard on Atlantic beach before attending Columbia Law School (JD, 1961), where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Peter began his private legal practice career with antitrust expert Malcolm Hoffman. In 1966, he joined Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP (now Cooley, LLP) and served as senior partner until 1994. He then became Chairman of Republic National Bank of New York. He also served as Directoire at Van Cleef & Arpels from 1991-1999 and as attorney advisor with Hermitage Capital Management Fund.

A global expert in cross-border transactions and international finance, he represented clients around the world, including longtime friend Edmond Safra, and designers Paloma Picasso and Ralph Lauren. He oversaw joint ventures in Japan and Thailand, and he helped open the first national bank in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Peter also represented clients in high-stakes First Amendment cases, including comedian Lenny Bruce.

In 1998, Peter co-founded Caribbean Property Group (CPG), a private equity real estate firm focused on the Caribbean. He oversaw the acquisition of Dorado Beach in 2007, now a Ritz Carlton Reserve.

Peter made home happy—and built homes, too. For years he was the most traveled customer on the Concorde; supersonic travel bent time to allow more dinners at home with his daughter, Florence. He spent weekends in Becket, MA, motorcycling through the countryside and bringing joy and laughter to his family’s hearts. He traveled when he was not at home, first with his wife Leah and after her passing with his wife Joan–to the pyramids of Cairo, on an overnight fishing boat in Turkey, to the lagoons of Aitutaki, and to the deserts of Israel. He especially loved Italy and took his family to homes in Tuscany, Venice, and Lake Como.

Peter was predeceased by his wife of thirty years, Leah Mansbach, and his older brother, Laurence Mansbach. He is survived by his wife Joan Strohmenger; his brother Richard and wife Rhoda and daughter Rachael; his daughter Florence Pagano and husband Christopher; stepson Benjamin Projansky and wife Benjie; grandchildren Leah and Jacob Pagano and Sadie Projansky; nephew Michael Mansbach and wife Jennifer; grandnephews Jacob and Joseph; and niece Jennifer and her children, Jeffrey, Tyler and Ashley.