Nicholas Frederic Brady, Duke of the Holy Roman Church (October 27, 1878 – March 27, 1930) was a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
businessman and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
who was the first American to receive the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
honor, the
Supreme Order of Christ
The Supreme Order of Christ ( it, Ordine Supremo del Cristo) was the highest order of chivalry awarded by the pope. According to some scholars, it owes its origin to the same Order of Christ of the Knights Templar, from which came the Order of ...
. He was the holder of several papal honors, including being a papal duke ''ad personam'' (non-hereditary).
Early life
Brady was born on October 27, 1878, in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
. His father was the industrialist
Anthony N. Brady. He graduated from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 1899. He was raised an
Episcopalian
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
but converted to Catholicism.
Career
Brady and his brother
James Cox Brady, Sr. oversaw a vast business empire built by their father. James Brady died in 1927, and Nicholas continued running the businesses. He was
Chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
of
New York Edison Co. and a director of
Anaconda Copper Mining Co.,
Westinghouse Electric
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
,
National City Bank,
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...
, and numerous other companies in the United States and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
whose activities were primarily in
utilities
A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...
. The Brady brothers provided substantial funds to enable
Walter Chrysler
Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American industrial pioneer in the automotive industry, American automotive industry executive and the founder and namesake of American Chrysler Corporation.
Early life
Chrysler wa ...
both to take over the ailing
Maxwell Motor Company
Maxwell was an American automobile manufacturer which ran from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company was Chrysler (currently, "Stellantis North America"), which acquired the company in 1925.
History Maxwell-Briscoe ...
and to acquire
Chrysler Corporation
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
. Nicholas became a lifelong member of Chrysler's board of directors.
Personal life
Brady married
Genevieve Garvan, sister of
Francis Patrick Garvan
Francis Patrick Garvan (June 13, 1875 – November 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, government official, and long-time president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc. The Chemical Foundation was established to administer in the public interest 4,500 G ...
. The couple had no children. A devout Roman Catholic, she was a
Dame of the Order of Malta, Dame of the
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...
, holder of the papal Cross
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy.
History
The medal was established by Leo XIII o ...
, founder of the
Carroll Club ("for Catholic business girls"), the 1933 recipient of the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
's
Laetare Medal
The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...
as the most notable lay Catholic in America, a Board Chairman of the
Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...
, and a Vice-President of the Welfare Council of New York. Brady was a lay adviser to the Roman Catholic Church and the second American, after
Francis Augustus MacNutt
Papal Marquis Francis Augustus MacNutt (February 15, 1863 – December 30, 1927) was an Indiana-born Catholic writer, and American diplomat, who later became a high ranking Vatican official.
Biography
Francis Augustus MacNutt was also for some t ...
, to be named
Papal Chamberlain
A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...
. In 1926, he was ennobled by
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
and created a
Papal Duke (''ad personam'', or non-hereditary). His wife was created a papal duchess in her own right.
The couple lived at 910
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in New York City but also built a large Tudor Elizabethan mansion on a
Manhasset
Manhasset is a hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in D ...
estate that was completed by 1920 and known as "
Inisfada
Inisfada was the North Hills, New York, North Hills, Long Island estate of Nicholas Frederic Brady and Genevieve Garvan Brady, Genevieve Brady (''née'' Garvan), a papal duke and duchess. Nicholas Brady was a convert from Episcopalianism to Catho ...
" (Gaelic for "
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
"). It was here that she entertained Eugenio
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Pacelli, the then
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae,
it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...
who later became
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
, on his American tour in 1936. The duchess later gave the estate to the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
. Inisfada was used as
The St. Ignatius Jesuit Retreat House before it was controversially sold and demolished in 2013.
Brady is buried in a crypt beneath an altar in the main chapel at the
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
Novitiate, St. Isaac Jogues, at
Wernersville, Pennsylvania
Wernersville is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,494 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Wernersville is located at (40.329941, -76.080701).
History
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Wer ...
, an institution to which he donated more than $2 million. Genevieve Brady remarried to the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
Minister to the Vatican, William J. Babington Macaulay. The papal duchess died in Rome in 1938 and her body was returned to the United States and buried beside Nicholas'. In the Church of St. Patrick in Rome a large plaque honors her life and contributions to the Catholic Church both in Rome and America. The Stations of the Cross in the church were presented to it by her second husband.
References
External links
April 7, 1930 ''TIME'' magazine article titled Brady EstateSt. Patrick's Church in Rome
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, Nicholas Frederic
1878 births
1930 deaths
Yale University alumni
American Roman Catholics
Brady family
Philanthropists from New York (state)
American financial businesspeople
Businesspeople from Albany, New York
People from Manhasset, New York
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Papal chamberlains
Papal dukes
Papal gentlemen