Hepburn's black evening gown dawns light in Sunderbans

Kolkata, Feb 26 (UNI) Hollywood diva Audrey Hepburn now has a bengali connection.

The black dress adorned by the gorgeous superstar as an eccentric socialite Holly Golightly in the masterpiece ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', is all set to build the foundation of an education centre in the world's largest mangrove forest region.

Celebrated French novelist and indophile Dominique Lapierre and his wife would inaugurate a new education centre on a Sunderban island on February 28, with the money from auctioning the elegant dress that Hepburn wore.

About 15,000 children and local authorities will receive the Lapierre couple and their supporters from the West for a 'grand homage' to the actress, who had been an ardent Unicef's Goodwill Ambassador until her death in 1993.

''The facade of the new school will be decorated with a huge banner of Audrey Hepburn wearing her famous dress,'' Full Circle Publisher Priyanka Malhotra said from New Delhi.

The Lapierres are financing a programme for 15 schools, from the money collected from the iconic dress, said Ms Malhotra, whose Full Circle Publications published ''The City of Joy'' in India.

''What is very special about this education centre is that he has financed its construction, thanks to the sale of the iconic evening gown that Hepburn wore in her mythical film,'' said Ms Malhotra.

The dress was handed over to Mr Dominique Lapierre last spring by French fashion genius Hubert de Givenchy when he found that some of Dominique's schools were devastated by floods.

Mr Givenchy thought that the dress would get about 10,000 dollars from a collector.

Mr Lapierre took the dress to Christies' Auction House in London and sold it for 825,000 dollars last December. The money was enough to repair the old schools and build several others.

There could not have been a more befitting tribute to the actress who dedicated the latter part of her life to helping destitute children in Africa, South America and Bangladesh.

Mr Lapierre will inaugurate the centre for the benefit of underprivileged children here, she said.

Since 1982, Mr Lapierre has shared his royalties with the non-profit City of Joy Foundation, which provides aid to slum children in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal.

The royalties from his book ''Five Past Midnight in Bhopal'' (published by Full Circle) went to the Sambhavna clinic in Bhopal which provides free medical treatment to the victims of the 1984 Union Carbide Bhopal disaster.

The Lapierres have been working in rural West Bengal for 25 years, funding treatment for leprosy, cholera and tuberculosis.

They have set up four hospital boats to provide medical care to 54 remote islands of the Sundarbans.

UNI