Anne Moen Bullitt (February 24, 1924 – August 18, 2007) was an American
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
, philanthropist, and
horsebreeder.
[ In her youth she was regarded as a great beauty, and was known for assembling a wardrobe of rare and valuable classic ]haute couture
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...
items.[ She traveled widely and was married four times.
She bought a 700-acre estate in ]County Kildare
County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
, Ireland, where she became one of Ireland's first female horsebreeders.[
]
Early life
Bullitt's mother was Louise Bryant
Louise Bryant (December 5, 1885 – January 6, 1936) was an American feminist, political activist, and journalist best known for her sympathetic coverage of Russia and the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution, Russian Revolution of Novembe ...
, best known for writing, as a witness to the founding of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, where she had traveled with her second husband John Silas Reed. Her father was an independently wealthy diplomat William C. Bullitt Jr., who had been in Russia at the time of the founding of the Soviet Union, as an unofficial observer for President Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
. The pair married in 1924, four years after Reed died of typhus in the Soviet Union, weeks before Anne Moen's birth.
Bullitt had almost no contact with her mother, as her father had divorced her when Anne was an infant, claiming she was an alcoholic and unfit mother. Accounts said young Anne followed her father everywhere, including on his diplomatic missions, and that he allowed her to hide, and listen, when he had meetings with other VIPs.
Legacy
Fashion legacy
According to ''Decades magazine'' she was a great beauty.
''Decades'' magazine wrote she had an 18-inch waist, paired with a generous bosom. When her estate auctioned her extensive wardrobe of high-fashion items, at Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
in 2009, the ''Irish Independent'' reported she had a 20-inch waist and an hourglass figure.[
]
Parents' papers
Bullitt, and her advisors, donated the papers of her famous parents to Yale University, her father's alma mater, and she helped clarify some aspects of their lives.[ Her father was an early friend and supporter of pioneering psychotherapist ]Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
, and he published a controversial book analyzing Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, titled '' Thomas Woodrow Wilson – A Psychological Study''.[
According to the ''New York Daily News'', after Freud heard Bullitt declare she was so devoted to her father, she looked upon him as her god, he replied: "You know, I have developed a theory that male children's first love is their mother, and females', the father. But this is the first time a child has confirmed my theory."][
]
Palmerston House and Stud
Bullitt's health failed in her old age. Her vision deteriorated to the point that she lived in just three rooms of her stately Irish home. In 2000, after she agreed to sell her estate to Jim Mansfield
James Mansfield, Sr. (9 April 1939 – 29 January 2014) was an Irish property developer and millionaire with a property portfolio that included the Citywest Hotel and Golf Resort, several developments local to the Saggart, Citywest and Tallagh ...
, surprising her financial advisors, who had recommended a different buyer. In 2000, they had her declared a ward of court.[
In 2009, Bullitt's estate sued firms owned by Mansfield.][ Representatives claimed that a deposit he promised for the property that was supposed to be held in trust, and paid when the sale was completed, had been deposited with a company he owned, and never was paid. Her estate claimed that personal possession of Bullitt were improperly in the possession of Mansfield, including valuable works of art by ]Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and pistols once owned by George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullitt, Anne Moen
1924 births
2007 deaths
American socialites
American women philanthropists
Philanthropists from Pennsylvania
Socialites from Philadelphia
American expatriates in the Republic of Ireland
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century women philanthropists