Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi

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Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi
Portrait of Countess Laszlo Szechenyi (cropped).jpg
Portrait by Philip de László, 1921
Born
Gladys Moore Vanderbilt

(1886-08-27)August 27, 1886
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedJanuary 29, 1965(1965-01-29) (aged 78)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
TitleCountess Széchenyi
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1908; died 1938)​
Children5
Parent(s)
FamilyVanderbilt

Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi (August 27, 1886 – January 29, 1965), was an American heiress from the Vanderbilt family and wife of Hungarian Count László Széchenyi.

Early life[]

Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II and her daughters, Gladys and Gertrude, having tea in the library at The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, by William Bruce Ellis Ranken, 1932

She was born as Gladys Moore Vanderbilt in 1886, the seventh and youngest child of Alice Claypoole Gwynne and her husband Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad.

She grew up in the Vanderbilt family mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City and at their summer "cottage", The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island.[1] She attended Miss Chapin's School in New York.[2]

Her first cousin was Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, who had married Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough.[3]

Inheritance[]

She inherited about $25 million from her father's estate and a further $5 million from her mother's estate.[4] She also inherited The Breakers. In 1948, as a widow, she leased The Breakers to the Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 a year. She continued to maintain an apartment in The Breakers by agreement until her death.

In 1913, there were rumors that she was going to leave her husband due to his financial woes,[5] including gambling away all of her dowry.[6]

War aid[]

In 1914, during World War I, she placed her palace in Budapest at the disposal of the army. Shortly thereafter, 600 reservists were quartered there, and she further intended to use the palace as a hospital.[7][8]

Marriage and children[]

Gladys Vanderbilt by John Singer Sargent, 1906

On January 27, 1908, she married Hungarian Count László Széchenyi (1879–1938) in New York City.[9][10] The couple visited Hungary[11] almost every summer with their five daughters:

  • Countess Cornelia "Gilia" Széchényi (1908–1958),[3] who married Eugene Bowie Roberts (1898–1983), an heir of the Roberts family of Bowie, Maryland (a colonial family of Maryland)
  • Countess Alice "Ai" Széchényi (1911–1974),[12] who married Hungarian Count Béla Hadik (1905–1971)
  • Countess Gladys Széchényi (1913–1978),[13] who married the English peer Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea (1911–1950)
  • Countess Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie "Sylvie" Széchényi (1918–1998), who married Hungarian Count Antal Szapáry von Muraszombath Széchysziget und Szapar (1905–1972)
  • Countess Ferdinandine "Bubby" Széchényi (b. 1923), who married Austrian Count Alexander zu Eltz (1911–1977)

Countess Széchenyi died in 1965. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased The Breakers for $365,000 from her heirs.[14][unreliable source?] Her daughter, Countess Sylvia Szapáry, maintained a residence at The Breakers[15] on the third floor until her death on March 1, 1998.

Descendants[]

Through her eldest daughter, Cornelia, she was the grandmother of three – Gladys Roberts (b. 1934), Cornelia Roberts (1936–1982), who married Count Hans-Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1926–2004), and Eugene Bowie Roberts, Jr. (b. 1939). Through her daughter Alice, she was grandmother to Count László Hadik (1932–1973) and Count János Hadik (b. 1933). Through her daughter Gladys, she was the grandmother of Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, the 16th Earl of Winchilsea (1936–1999) and the Hon. Robin Finch-Hatton (b. 1939). Through her daughter Sylvia, she was the grandmother of Count Pál László Szapáry (b. 1950) and Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Szapáry (b. 1952). Through her youngest child, Ferdinandine, she was the grandmother of Count Peter zu Eltz (b. 1948) and Count Nicholas zu Eltz (1950–2012).[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Vanderbilt, Arthur T., II (1989). Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07279-8.
  2. ^ "EDUCATION: Death of Miss Chapin". Time. March 19, 1934.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Times, Special Cable To The New York (October 28, 1908). "DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; Former Miss Gladys Vanderbilt Becomes a Mother at Her Castle". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "GLADYS VANDERBILT IS 21.; She Will Soon Receive $12,500,000 from Her Father's Estate". The New York Times. August 25, 1907. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  5. ^ Times, Special Cable To The New York (April 20, 1913). "SZECHENYI SUFFERS FINANCIAL LOSSES; With His Wife, Formerly Gladys Vanderbilt, He May Leave Hungary for London". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  6. ^ Times, Special Cable To The New York (July 31, 1913). "MAY BE SZECHENYI DIVORCE; Budapest Reports That the Former Gladys Vanderbilt Will Sue". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "COUNTESS SZECHENYI HELPS.; Former Gladys Vanderbilt Gives Use of Palace to Army". The New York Times. August 3, 1914. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  8. ^ Service, International Film (December 7, 1919). "COUNTESS SZECHENYI'S STORY; Former Gladys Vanderbilt Describes Privations and Sufferings in Hungary, Where She Barely Escaped Russians Countess Szechenyi's Story". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  9. ^ "THE VANDERBILT WEDDING.; Miss Gladys to Become Count Szechenyi's Bride on Jan. 27". The New York Times. January 7, 1908. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "THE HOUSE OF SZECHENYI IN MAGYAR ANNALS; Long and Hungarian Family Into Which Miss Gladys Vanderbilt will be Married To-morrow". The New York Times. January 26, 1908. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "BALL FOR SZECHENYIS.; Former Miss Vanderbilt Meets the Magyar Aristocracy at Budapest". The New York Times. May 10, 1908. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  12. ^ "SZECHENYI'S SECOND CHILD.; Daughter Born to Him and the Countess -- Son to Viscountess Maidstone". The New York Times. August 5, 1911. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  13. ^ Times, Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To The New York (August 16, 1913). "DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; She Was Born at Her Parents' English Home on Thursday". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  14. ^ "User Home Page Book: The Family History of Donald Joseph La Coste, and Ellsworth John La Coste: NGS Quarterly Report of Jan A. Vanderbilt". familytreemaker.genealogy.com.
  15. ^ Times, Special To The New York (September 23, 1947). "Countess Szechenyi a Citizen". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  16. ^ List of Dutch patrician families in the Nederland's Patriciaat 1910-2007/2008 (PDF).

External links[]

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