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Pauline, Baroness de Rothschild (née Potter; December 31, 1908 – March 8, 1976) was an American fashion designer, writer and, with her second husband, a translator of both Elizabethan poetry and the plays of
Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...
.Philippe de Rothschild and Joan Littlewood, ''Milady Vine: The Autobiography of Philippe de Rothschild'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1984) She was named, with Diana Vreeland, who was added to this list in 1964, 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 1969, alongside
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), ''Gunga Din'' (1939) ...
,
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truma ...
,
Angier Biddle Duke Angier Biddle Duke (November 30, 1915 – April 29, 1995) was an American diplomat who served as Chief of Protocol of the United States in the 1960s. Prior to that, at the age of 36, he became the youngest American ambassador in history when he w ...
,
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...
, and
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
.


Early life

She was born Pauline Potter at 10 rue Octave Feuillet in the Paris neighborhood of
Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around wh ...
, to wealthy expatriate American parents of Protestant background.Frank J. Prial, "Baroness Pauline de Rothschild Dies", ''The New York Times'', 9 March 1976 Her mother was Gwendolen Cary, a great-grand-niece of
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and a distant cousin of Britain's Lords Falkland and Cary."Francis H. Potter Weds in England; Nephew of Bishop Potter Marries Miss Gwendolyn icCary at Westminster", ''The New York Times'', 22 October 1907 Her father was Francis Hunter Potter, a playboy who was a grandson of
Alonzo Potter Alonzo Potter (July 6, 1800 – July 4, 1865) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Potter "identified himself with all the best interests of society." ...
, an Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania, and a nephew and great-nephew of successive Episcopal
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
s of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, Horatio Potter and
Henry Codman Potter Henry Codman Potter (May 25, 1834 – July 21, 1908) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. He was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Potter was "more praised and appreciated, perhaps, than any public ma ...
. Potter was a member of several families that were prominent in the American South since the 17th century. She was a great-great-granddaughter of
Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...
and a direct descendant of
Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
. His wife Mary Tayloe Lloyd Key was both a Lloyd, daughter of Edward Lloyd IV of
Wye House Wye may refer to: Place names *Wye, Kent, a village in Kent, England **Wye College, agricultural college, part of University of London before closure in 2009 ** Wye School, serving the above village **Wye railway station, serving the above villag ...
and a Tayloe of Mount Airy on her mother, Elizabeth's side, the daughter of
John Tayloe II Colonel John Tayloe II (28 May 172118 April 1779) was a planter and politician, among the richest planters in colonial Virginia. He served in public office including the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State. ...
and sister to John Tayloe III of The Octagon House, arguably the wealthiest American, if not Southern Planter. Her grand-aunts Jennie and
Hetty Cary Hetty Carr Cary (May 15, 1836 – September 27, 1892) was the wife of Confederate General John Pegram and, later, of pioneer physiologist H. Newell Martin. She is best remembered for making the first three battle flags of the Confederacy (al ...
(wife of the Confederate general
John Pegram John Pegram (November 16, 1773April 8, 1831) was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and a major general during the War of 1812. Ear ...
) were well-known figures during the Civil War, known as the "Cary Invincibles" and considered heroines for sewing battle flags. It was Jennie Cary who put the words of James Ryder Randall's poem "Maryland, My Maryland" to the German folk song "Lauriger Horatius", thereby creating what would become the state song of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
. Her mother's cousin and sometime guardian
Constance Cary Harrison Constance Cary Harrison (pen name, Refugitta; April 25, 1843 – November 21, 1920), also referred as Mrs. Burton Harrison, was an American playwright and novelist. She and two of her cousins were known as the "Cary Invincibles"; the three sewed t ...
was one of the United States' best-known women in the late 19th century, a prominent novelist and social reformer. Another cousin,
Francis Burton Harrison Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873 – November 21, 1957) was an American statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and was appointed governor-general of the Philippines by President of the United States Wood ...
, served as
Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...
of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
and was a Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency.Jerry Rosco, ''Glenway Wescott, Personally'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), page 55 Due to her parents' frequent separations and subsequent divorce and their later marital and romantic entanglements and custody disputes, she was brought up in varying degrees of poverty and luxury in New York City, Paris,
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...
, and
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
. She was educated at a private finishing school in Groslay, a town north of Paris, as well as schools and tutors elsewhere in France and Maryland, but her formal education was effectively over by the age of 16. By her father's second marriage to Clara Waterman Knight Colford (formerly Mrs. Sidney Jones Colford), a Philadelphia sugar and utilities heiress, she had two stepsisters, Clara and Dorothy.


First marriage

In 1930, in Baltimore, Maryland, she married Charles Carroll Fulton Leser (1900–1949), a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, an art restorer, who was the younger son of a prominent judge and a grandson of
Felix Agnus Felix Agnus (4 July 1839 – 31 October 1925) was a French-born sculptor, newspaper publisher and soldier who served in the Franco-Austrian War and the American Civil War. Agnus studied sculpture before enlisting to fight in the Franco-Austria ...
one of the city's leading newspaper publishers. He also was an alcoholic and a homosexual.Mitchell Owens, "Remembrance of Beauty", ''Nest'' Magazine, Winter 1998/1999 After moving to
Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...
, Spain soon after their marriage, they separated in 1934, divorced in 1939, and had no children.


Romances

After she and Leser separated, she was romantically involved with a number of prominent men, including Paul-Henri Spaak (a Prime Minister of Belgium), American diplomat Elim O'Shaughnessy (1907-1966), French horticultural heir (1907-1987), Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch Romanov of Russia (one of the assassins of Rasputin), and producer-director Jed Harris. For a period of years she also was the lover of Isabelle Kemp, an heiress to a New York drug-store and real-estate fortune.


Career

In the early 1930s, she worked as a personal shopper in New York City, acting as a fashion advisor to wealthy socialites too busy to shop and too unsure of their personal style. Later, after moving to Europe with her first husband, she operated dress shops on Majorca. She also worked for the couturier
Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , also , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was a fashion designer from an Italian nobility, Italian aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, w ...
in London and Paris and often was seen in society columns dressed in the firm's latest creations. In the early 1940s, she and a friend, Louise Macy, a former editor of ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...
'', opened Macy-Potter, a short-lived fashion house, in New York City. The firm was bankrolled by a monetary settlement from Macy's former lover, millionaire
John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whit ...
, a.k.a. Jock Whitney, who had left her to marry Betsey Cushing, a former daughter-in-law of President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. Though Macy-Potter's first (and only) collection was a critical and financial disaster, Potter went on to design a collection for Marshall Field and later to direct the custom-fashion division of Hattie Carnegie, the New York fashion company, succeeding
Jean Louis Jean Louis (born Jean Louis Berthault; October 5, 1907 – April 20, 1997) was a French-American costume designer. He won an Academy Award for '' The Solid Gold Cadillac'' (1956). Life and career Before coming to Hollywood, he worked in New Yo ...
, who left in 1943 to become chief fashion designer for
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. She remained at Hattie Carnegie for nearly a decade and was known professionally as Mrs. Fairfax Potter. Philippe de Rothschild and Joan Littlewood, ''Milady Vine: The Autobiography of Philippe de Rothschild'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1984) Among her clients were the
Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
, automotive heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy, actress
Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...
, actress
Ina Claire Ina Claire (born Ina Fagan; October 15, 1893February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893 in Washington, D.C. After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow bo ...
, and prominent others. She also designed the women's costumes for John Huston's Broadway 1946 production of ''
No Exit ''No Exit'' (french: Huis clos, links=no, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play begins with three characters who find themselves waiting ...
'' by
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...
, starring
Ruth Ford Ruth Ford (July 7, 1911 – August 12, 2009) was an American actress and model. Her brother was the bohemian surrealist Charles Henri Ford. Their parents owned or managed hotels in the American South, and the family regularly moved. Life and ...
and Annabella. The gown she designed for Ford is in the collection of the
Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
. Potter also worked briefly as an uncredited fashion model. One assignment for ''Harper's Bazaar'' had her posing in the latest Grecian-style gowns for the photographer
Louise Dahl-Wolfe Louise Dahl-Wolfe (November 19, 1895 – December 11, 1989) was an American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for ''Harper's Bazaar'', in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland. Background Louise Emma Augusta Dahl was bor ...
.


Second marriage

On 8 April 1954, she became the second wife of Baron
Philippe de Rothschild Philippe, Baron de Rothschild (13 April 1902 – 20 January 1988) was a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty who became a Grand Prix motor racing driver, a screenwriter and playwright, a theatrical producer, a film producer, a poet, and one ...
, a polymath and poet who was the owner of the fabled French winery Château Mouton Rothschild. The baron's previous wife, Elisabeth Pelletier de Chambure, died in 1945 in
Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure ...
. By this marriage, she had one stepchild,
Philippine de Rothschild Philippine Mathilde Camille, Baroness de Rothschild (22 November 1933 – 23 August 2014) was the owner of the French winery Château Mouton Rothschild. She acted under the stage name Philippine Pascal (imprinting on her paternal grandfather Henri ...
(1933–2014).


Literary pursuits

de Rothschild admired the works of the Japanese novelist
Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...
and the stories of Danish writer Isak Dinesen, and she hoped to make her mark as a writer. Her articles about fashion, travel, and other subjects were published in ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...
'' and ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' (the latter's editor in chief, Diana Vreeland, was a distant cousin). In 1966, Harcourt Brace published her only book, '' The Irrational Journey'', a brief, atmospheric memoir of a trip she and her husband took to the Soviet Union in the dead of winter.


Death

de Rothschild died on 8 March 1976, of a heart attack in the lobby of the Biltmore Hotel, in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...
."Baroness de Rothschild Dies", ''The New York Times'', 9 March 1976 She previously had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone open-heart surgery for a deteriorated valve in 1975. Rothschild's health problems were exacerbated by Marfan's syndrome, a genetic abnormality.


Burial

She is buried on the grounds of Château Mouton Rothschild in
Pauillac Pauillac (; oc, Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe. Populati ...
,
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...
, France, beneath a translucent tomb made of Lalique glass and marble. The monument also contains the remains of her second husband and his parents, Mathilde and Henri de Rothschild.


Ancestors


Notes


References

*Philippe de Rothschild and Joan Littlewood, ''Milady Vine: The Autobiography of Philippe de Rothschild'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1984). *Mitchell Owens, ''Pauline On My Mind'', ''The New York Times'', 5 November 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/05/magazine/pauline-on-my-mind.html *Mitchell Owens, ''Remembrance of Beauty'', ''Nest'' Magazine, Winter 1998/1999. *''Architectural Digest'', May/June 1997, pages 118-123. *Joseph Holtzman, Derry Moore, and Carl Skoggard, ''Rooms'' (Rizzoli, 2006). * Edited with essay by Barbara Plumb, Photographs by Horst P, Horst, ''Horst: Interiors'', Bulfinch Press, Boston, 1993. *Frank J. Prial, ''Baroness Pauline de Rothschild Dies'', ''The New York Times'', 9 March 1976. *Frank J. Prial, ''Philippe de Rothschild, 85, Dies; Maker of Château Mouton Wine'', ''The New York Times'', 21 January 1988. *Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins, ''The Power of Style: The Women Who Defined the Art of Living Well'' (Crown, 1994). *Hugo Vickers, ''The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them, 1970–1980'', (Knopf, New York, 2003). {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Pauline 1908 births 1976 deaths Cary family of Virginia French socialites French baronesses Mistresses of Russian royalty Pauline de Rothschild American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent People with Marfan syndrome American expatriates in France