Diana Glynis McNaughton Capoluongo

Diana Glynis McNaughton Capoluongo died on November 17, 2025, in Washington, DC, at the age of 83. She was born in Blairstown, New Jersey, in 1942. Her father, Glen Nyren McNaughton, an attorney by day, also trained racehorses and passed on his love for horses to his children. Her mother, Yetta Mona Manya Malamude, a professional dancer and horse trainer, encouraged an appreciation for the arts. Both influences stayed with Diana throughout her life.

Diana often described herself as someone who “raised herself,” a comment that reflected her independent spirit more than anything else. She followed her own instincts and interests, which included dance. She studied at the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan and studied ballet before her academic focus shifted. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, forming close friendships that lasted her entire life. During these years, she moved toward international finance and economics, a decision that set the course for her future.

Her studies eventually took her to Bologna, Italy, where she attended the Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Advanced International Studies. It was there she met more lifelong friends and her future husband, Silvio Capoluongo. They shared similar goals, similar values, and a commitment to work that had global reach, and together they created a home that valued learning, culture, and community.

Diana joined the World Bank in the mid-1980s as part of a new effort to bring in staff with practical banking experience. She was the first person hired under this initiative. Colleagues recognized her as a capable professional whose judgment was trusted. She became an essential part of a small team that shaped financial sector work within the Bank and advised countries around the world. She was known for her ability to interview and evaluate candidates, to see strengths and gaps that others might overlook, and to offer clear guidance. She was frequently requested for missions and was respected by staff and by international counterparts.

Animals were a major part of Diana’s life. She loved dogs of all kinds, from boxers, Argus and Lope, to the small companions, Nip and Tuck, that shared her home to the two spirited dogs, Nemo and Fufi, Silvio brought back from Ghana. After retiring from the Bank, she returned to her love for horses and turned a large property in Virginia into a working stable. Riding was more than a pastime to her. It was something she understood and valued on a deep level. She rejoins Juno, Camelot, Pharaoh and Fabulous, horses she loved so much over the years.

Diana lived a life of many chapters: childhood on a farm, dance in New York, studies that took her across the world, a marriage rooted in shared ambition, a long career at the World Bank, and a later return to horses and open land. She approached each chapter with focus and commitment. She filled her life with learning, culture, conversation, travel, music, animals, and family.

She is survived by her son, Matteo, her granddaughter, Manya, her grandson, Massimo, and many friends and colleagues who admired her and learned from her. She is reunited with her husband Silvio, whose partnership shaped so much of her life.

Her family will carry her memory forward with gratitude for the example she set and the life she lived.