Prince Alexis Obolensky Jr. (April 20, 1915 – February 8, 1986), a Russian-American socialite and sometimes called the "father of modern backgammon," was a member of the princely

Obolensky family {{For, the rural localities in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, Obolenskoye The House of Obolensky (russian: Оболенский) is the name of a princely Russian family of the Rurik dynasty. The family of aristocrats mostly fled Russia in 1917 during the ...

of the

Rurik Dynasty The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

Early life

Obolensky was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, on April 20, 1915. He was the son of Alexey Alexandrovitch Obolensky (1883–1942) and Lubov Petrovna "Luba" (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Troubetzkoy The House of Trubetskoy (English), Трубецкие (Russian), Трубяцкі ( Belarusian), ''Trubecki'' (Polish), ''Trubetsky'' ( Ruthenian), Трубецький (Ukrainian), ''Troubetzkoy'' (French), ''Trubic'' (Croatian), ''Trubetski'' ...

) Obolensky (1888–1980). Among his siblings was older sister Alexandra Obolensky, the wife of Anatol Nicholas Sazonoff, Princess Luba Troubetzkoy of

Sea Cliff Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to: ;Places ''Australia'' *Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide *Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales ''New Zealand'' *Seacli ...

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 ...

. He was a cousin of Prince

Serge Obolensky Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky Neledinsky-Meletzky (November 3, 1890 – September 29, 1978), known as Serge Obolensky, was a Russian-born aristocrat then American citizen, U.S. Army colonel, socialite and publicist. He served as vice chair ...

, who married the American heiress

Ava Alice Muriel Astor Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) was an American heiress, socialite, and member of the Astor family. She was the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing, and sister of Vincent Astor and half-sister of John Jac ...

. In 1917, his family fled to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

from Russia during the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and in the 1920s, they emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He later attended the

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

Kent, Connecticut Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located alongside the border with New York, the town's population was 3,019 according to the 2020 census. Kent is home to three boarding schools: Kent School, the Marvelwood School ...

, and graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, where he was a member of the

Virginia Glee Club The Virginia Glee Club is a men's chorus based at the University of Virginia. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works typically in TTBB arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the university's oldest musical organization ...

and

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a f ...

Career

Obolensky worked as a real estate broker in the Palm Beach area, where he maintained a home. During the 1960s and 1970s, he traveled widely promoting

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

as a gambling and tournament game. He co-founded the World Backgammon Club, an organization in Manhattan that sponsors international tournaments, serving as its president until his death.

Personal life

On January 6, 1939, Obolensky was married to Jane Wheeler Irby (1914–1981), a Fermata School graduate, in Aiken, who was the daughter of Robert Garland Irby, at

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. They finally divorced, in April 1952, and were the parents of three children: * Anne Obolensky * Alexis Obolensky Jr. (1944–1999) * Mary Obolensky (1946–1986), who married

Antony Underwood Antony J. Underwood is the founder and a former director of the '' ARC Special Research Centre on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities'' at the University of Sydney. Tony has written extensively about the processes that cause patterns of distribu ...

of London. On November 22, 1952, he was married to Katherine Taylor "Kappy" (née Pearce) Gennett (1919–1998), the former wife of Carter Tate Gennett and daughter of J. McAlister Pearce, in New York City. His first wife later remarried to Harold Hegeler Lihme in November 1953. They also divorced and in 1965, he married Jacqueline Ann Stedman (1939–2002). Obolensky died at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on February 8, 1986.

Legacy

In 2018, Obolensky was elected to the

Backgammon Hall of Fame Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and P ...

Published works

* Obolensky, Alexis (with Ted James): ''Backgammon: The Action Game'', Collier Books, 1969,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obolensky, Alexis 1915 births 1986 deaths

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

Trubetskoy family University of Virginia alumni American backgammon players Kent School alumni White Russian emigrants to the United States