Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi
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Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi (August 27, 1886 – January 29, 1965), was an American heiress from the
Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
and wife of Hungarian Count
László Széchenyi Count László Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (18 February 1879 – 5 July 1938) was an Austro Hungarian military officer, Imperial Chamberlain, diplomat and venture capitalist. His great-uncle was István Széchenyi. László Széchenyi mar ...
.


Early life

She was born as Gladys Moore Vanderbilt in 1886, the seventh and youngest child of
Alice Claypoole Gwynne Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt (; November 11, 1845 – April 24, 1934) was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and reigned as the matriarch of the Vanderbilt family for over 60 years. Early life and relatives Alice Claypoole Gwynne was born on Novem ...
and her husband
Cornelius Vanderbilt II Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Noted forebears He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...
, the president and chairman of the
New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
. She grew up in the Vanderbilt family mansion on
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 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 ...
and at their summer "cottage",
The Breakers The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mans ...
in Newport,
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
. She attended
Miss Chapin's School Chapin School is an all-girls independent day school in New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan. History Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" in 1901. The school origin ...
in New York. Her
first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...
was
Consuelo Vanderbilt Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan (formerly Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt; March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964) was a socialite and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. Her first marriage ...
, Duchess of Marlborough, who had married
Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a ...
.


Inheritance

She inherited about $25 million from her father's estate and a further $5 million from her mother's estate. She also inherited The Breakers. In 1948, as a widow, she leased The Breakers to the
Preservation Society of Newport County The Preservation Society of Newport County is a private, non-profit organization based in Newport, Rhode Island. It is Rhode Island's largest and most-visited cultural organization. The organization protects the architectural heritage of Newpor ...
for $1 a year. She continued to maintain an apartment in The Breakers by agreement until her death. In 1951, she donated her mother's iconic
Electric Light dress The Electric Light dress was a masquerade gown made of gold and silver thread that was designed by Charles Frederick Worth for Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. It was made for a masquerade ball that was held in New York City on March 26, 1883. The ball ...
to 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 i ...
. In 1913, there were rumors that she was going to leave her husband due to his financial woes, including gambling away all of her dowry.


War aid

In 1914, during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, she placed her palace in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
at the disposal of the army. Shortly thereafter, 600 reservists were quartered there, and she further intended to use the palace as a hospital.


Marriage and children

On January 27, 1908, she married Hungarian
Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
László Széchenyi Count László Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (18 February 1879 – 5 July 1938) was an Austro Hungarian military officer, Imperial Chamberlain, diplomat and venture capitalist. His great-uncle was István Széchenyi. László Széchenyi mar ...
(1879–1938) in New York City. The couple visited Hungary almost every summer with their five daughters: * Countess Cornelia "Gilia" Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék (1908–1958), who married Eugene Bowie Roberts (1898–1983), an heir of the Roberts family of
Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
(a colonial family of Maryland) * Countess Alice "Ai" Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék (1911–1974), who married Hungarian Count Béla Hadik (1905–1971) * Countess Gladys Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék (1913–1978), who married the English peer
Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton (2 August 1911 – 7 March 1950) was the 15th Earl of Winchilsea and 10th Earl of Nottingham. He acceded to the titles in 1939 on the death of his father, Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea. His mother ...
(1911–1950) * Countess Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie "Sylvie" Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék (1918–1998), who married Hungarian Count Antal
Szapáry The House of Szapáry (Hungarian: ''Szapáry de Muraszombath, Széchysziget et Szapár'') is the name of an old and important Hungarian noble family, which derived its name from the village of Szapár. The family belonged to the Hungarian nobilit ...
von Muraszombath Széchysziget und Szapar (1905–1972) * Countess Ferdinandine "Bubby" Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsövidék (1923–2016), who married Austrian Count Alexander von und zu
Eltz The House of Eltz was a noted German noble family of the ''Uradel''. The Rhenish dynasty has had close ties to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia since 1736. History Though older sources mentioned one Eberhard zu Eltz, a Frankish citizen of Trier i ...
(1911–1977) Countess Széchenyi died in 1965. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased
The Breakers The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mans ...
for $365,000 from her heirs. Her daughter, Countess Sylvia Szapáry, maintained a residence at The Breakers on the third floor until her death on March 1, 1998.


Descendants

Through her eldest daughter, Cornelia, she was the grandmother of three – Gladys Vanderbilt Roberts (b. 1934), Cornelia Roberts (1936–1982), who married Count Hans-Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1926–2004), and Eugene Bowie Roberts, Jr. (1939–2020). Through her daughter Alice, she was grandmother to Count László Hadik (1932–1973) and Count János Hadik (1933–2004). Through her daughter Gladys, she was the grandmother of Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, the 16th Earl of Winchilsea (1936–1999) and the Hon. Robin Finch-Hatton (1939–2018). Through her daughter Sylvia, she was the grandmother of Count Pál László Szapáry (b. 1950) and Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Szapáry (b. 1952). Through her youngest child, Ferdinandine, she was the grandmother of Count Peter von und zu Eltz (1948 - deceased) and Count Nicholas von und zu Eltz (1950–2012).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szechenyi, Gladys Vanderbilt 1886 births 1965 deaths American emigrants to Hungary American socialites Hungarian countesses Gladys Gladys Burials at Moravian Cemetery