Jane Engelhard
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Jane Engelhard (August 12, 1917 – February 29, 2004), born Mary Jane Reiss, was an American philanthropist, best known for her marriage to billionaire industrialist Charles W. Engelhard Jr., as well as her donation of an elaborate 18th-century Neapolitan crêche to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
in 1967. She was named to the
International Best Dressed List The International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine ''Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List a ...
Hall of Fame in 1972.


Family and early life

Born in Qingdao or
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, China, Mary Jane Reiss was the youngest daughter of Hugo Reiss (1879–1931), a prominent
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
businessman who emigrated to the USA in 1896; he was an executive at his family's British fabric-and-small-arms wholesale firm, G. Reiss & Co. Ltd. and served as Brazil's consul in Shanghai. Hugo Reiss married, at The Grand Hotel in
Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
, on 16 October 1911, Marie Ignatius Murphy (1891-1965), an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
native of San Francisco, California; she was a daughter of James. J. Murphy and his wife, Mary O'Gorman. Reiss had two elder sisters by her parents' marriage: *Barry Jeannette Reiss, 1914–1970, later known as Reiss-Brian and Reis-Brian *Madeleine Huguette Reiss, 1916–1994, later Reiss-Brian, married 1 Major Rupert Charles Frederick Gerard, and 2 Lawrence Hoguet **Anthony Gerard, 5th Baron Gerard of Bryn). After her parents' divorce, her mother married French merchant and former theatre critic Guy Louis Albert Brian (1891–1955) in 1928. They had two daughters: *Marie-Brigitte Brian (1928-), married Count Bernard de La Rochefoucauld Estissac **Anne Patricia de la Le Rochefoucauld Estissac **Edmond de la Le Rochefoucauld Estissac **Paul de la Le Rochefoucauld Estissac **Sabine de la Le Rochefoucauld Estissac, married Pierre Louis de la Rochefoucauld, Duc d'Estissac **Sophie Rose de la Le Rochefoucauld Estissac, a nun *Patricia "Bébé" Brian (1930-), married Jacques Bemberg **Jean-Charles Bemberg **Marie Bemberg **Claude Bemberg All five daughters were raised as Catholics, with the three Reiss girls spending their infancy and early childhood in Shanghai, China. After Marie (Murphy) Reiss separated from Reiss in the late 1920s, she and her children moved to Paris, where she remarried and where Jane graduated from Couvent des Oiseaux, a fashionable Roman Catholic school; its alumni included the future Vietnamese empress
Nam Phương Empress Nam Phương (4 December 1914 – 16 September 1963), born Marie-Thérèse Nguyễn Hữu Thị Lan, was the last empress consort of Vietnam. She was the wife of Bảo Đại (), the last emperor of Vietnam (officially named as Đại ...
.


First marriage

On 1 June 1939, at Villa Monte Cristo,
Vaucresson Vaucresson () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the Hauts-de-Seine department from the center of Paris. Vaucresson contains abundant parkland; 22 of its 308 hectares are classed as natural zones. Today Vaucresson ...
, France, Reiss married Fritz Mannheimer (1890–1939), a German Jewish banker and art collector. The director of Mendelssohn & Co. in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, a branch of a Berlin bank on Jagerstrasse 51, known for floating multimillion-dollar loans to various European governments, including that of Germany and Russia, he died eight weeks after the wedding, reportedly of a heart attack, on 9 August 1939. The actual cause of Mannheimer's death remains as speculative as its timing was suspicious. One day after his death, the Amsterdam branch announced that it was insolvent and that it was confiscating Mannheimer's art collection, which had been financed with unlimited bank credit. Shortly thereafter, the entire firm was liquidated by the German government. The couple had one child, born in Nice, France, six months after Mannheimer's death: * Anne France Mannheimer (now known as Annette de la Renta) (b. 1939)


Second marriage

Jane Mannheimer moved first to London, then to Buenos Aires, then to New York City after her first husband's death. In 1947 she was named vice president of the merchandising division of Holbrook Microfilming Service, a company which was headed by president
John J. Raskob John Jakob Raskob, KCSG (March 19, 1879 – October 15, 1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 t ...
and chairman Lt. Gen. Hugh Drum. She also was a member of Sillman & Associates, through which she was a minor investor in
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
revues including ''New Shoes'' and ''Gentlemen Be Seated''. On 18 August 1947, in New York City, New York, Mannheimer married Charles W. Engelhard Jr. (1917–1971), vice-president of Baker & Co. Inc. and heir to Engelhard Industries, a
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
-based minerals conglomerate. The couple lived in Far Hills, New Jersey, where they raised
golden retrievers The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...
and
thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
racehorses, including the fabled
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...
champion,
Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...
. They had numerous homes, including Cragwood, a 1920s neo-Georgian mansion in New Jersey, a country house in South Africa, and residences in London, Paris,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
, Nantucket, New York City, and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
's Gaspé Peninsula. The Engelhards had five daughters: *Susan Mary Engelhard (married, in 1972, Roy Sayles O'Connor) *Sophie Jane Engelhard (married Derek Craighead) * Sally Alexandra Engelhard (married, in 1978, Sumner Pingree III) *Charlene B. Engelhard (married, in 1985, John Troy) Charles Engelhard also adopted his wife's daughter from her first marriage.


Philanthropy

Engelhard was a patron of numerous causes and institutions, including the New Jersey Symphony. She served on the Boards the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
and the Morgan Library for many years. She also was a member of the Fine Arts Committee of the White House, organized during the Kennedy administration; the decoration of the Small State Dining Room is among her reported contributions to the restoration of the White House. In 1977, Engelhard was the first woman appointed as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.She served less than a year, however, claiming that "my role as a commissioner conflicts with my family responsibilities and is far more time-consuming than I had anticipated" (The New York Times, 14 December 1977). She was also a member of the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board and a recipient of the
Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
.


Death

Engelhard died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
on February 29, 2004, at her home in Nantucket,
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.


References


Sources

*"Fritz Mannheimer, Financier, Is Dead," ''The New York Times'', 11 August 1939, page 19. *"Action Follows Shortly After Mannheimer's Death–House Granted Government Loans," ''The New York Times'', 12 August 1939, page 1. *"Mendelssohn Lost Heavily on Bonds; Huge Fortune of Mannheimer Is Believed to Have Been Lost in His Operations ," ''The New York Times'', 14 August 1939, page 7. *"Trustees Named for Mendelssohn," ''The New York Times'', 15 August 1939, page 32. *"Holland Unmoved by Bank's Crisis," ''The New York Times'', 21 August 1939, page 23. *"Daladier Testifies in War Guilt Court," ''The New York Times'', 23 September 1940, page 5. *"Met Painting Traced to Nazis," ''The New York Times'', 24 November 1987, page C19. *"Records at the Met Disprove Charge of Acquiring 5 Paintings Improperly," ''The New York Times'', 25 November 1987, C11. *"Post-War Story," ''Time'', 21 August 1939.
Brief biography of Mannheimer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelhard, Jane 1917 births 2004 deaths American racehorse owners and breeders American people of Jewish descent American people of Irish descent Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts Recipients of the Legion of Honour Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people Philanthropists from Paris People from Qingdao 20th-century American philanthropists Chinese emigrants to France French emigrants to the United States