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 Count

István Széchenyi Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and writer. Widely considered one of the greatest statesme ...

. László Széchenyi married Gladys Vanderbilt, the youngest daughter 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 Nove ...

and

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 ...

Early life

The Count was born Széchenyi László Jenő Mária Henrik Simon on February 18, 1879 in Horpács, then a part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, a dual monarchy established in

1867 There were only 354 days this year in the newly purchased territory of Alaska. When the territory transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States, the calendric transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar was made with only 1 ...

. He was a son of Count Imre Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék, the former Austrian Minister at the Court of Berlin and his wife, Countess Alexandra Sztaray-Szirmay et Nagy-Mihály (1843–1914). The Széchényi family were one of the oldest and wealthiest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was also the great grandson of

Ferenc Széchényi Count Ferenc Széchényi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (28 April 1754 – 13 December 1820) was a Hungarian nobleman and statesman, known for founding the Hungarian National Library and the Hungarian National Museum, National Museum in Budapest. Ear ...

He was the youngest of four brothers, including: Count Dionys, who was the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in Denmark (he married Comtesse Marie de Caraman et Chimay), Peter Széchenyi, and István Széchenyi. All of the brothers were Reserve Lieutenants in the Imperial Hussars as well as Chamberlains at the Court. His father owned thousands of acres divided into scores of farms and forest preserves on which the Széchenyis grew wheat, Turkish pepper, tobacco, hemp, and grapes.

Career

Széchenyi was the inventor of the submarine wireless telegraphy, for sending and receiving sound-wave vibrations underwater. The machine was successfully tested with then U.S. Secretary of the Navy

George von Lengerke Meyer George von Lengerke Meyer (June 24, 1858 – March 9, 1918) was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as United States ambassador to Italy and Russia, as United States Postmaster Gener ...

, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. Széchenyi, along with David C. Watts, formed the Submarine Wireless Company to produce it. By 1908, Széchenyi was the most prominent member of his family, which was quite numerous. He possessed two great estates in Hungary, ''Oermezo Castle'', which is about three hundred years old and 4,000 acres, in the County of Templen, and Lagoshara Pusbla, a Summer place of about 4,300 acres, in the County of Somogy. Széchenyi also owned a one-story, ten room house at 14 Eotvoss-street in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Shortly before the War, Széchenyi tried to become a financial leader in Hungary but failed. He is said to have lost $4,000,000 which is supposed to have come largely from his wife. He was a member of the 'Magnates Group' which speculated in mines, railroads and other enterprises. They failed to calculate the impact of the World War, and suffered a complete smash as a result of the fall in value of their shares.

Diplomatic career

The Kingdom of Hungary and the United States signed a treaty establishing friendly relations on August 29, 1921. On January 11, 1922, Széchenyi presented his credentials as Hungary's first Minister to the United States. He served in that role until March 31, 1933. He was transferred to the same post at the Court of Saint James's in England in 1933.

Personal life

Széchenyi was twenty-eight years old when he met Gladys Vanderbilt (1886–1965), the seventh and youngest child of

and

, the president and chairman of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

. Gladys grew up in the family home on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and 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 ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. They married on January 27, 1908, at her family home in

, after their meeting in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

near her twenty-first birthday in 1907. Their early married life was spent in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

raising their five children. Together, Széchenyi and Vanderbilt were the parents of five daughters: * Countess Cornelia "Gilia" Széchényi (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 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County; i ...

, a Colonial family of Maryland. * Countess Alice "Ai" Széchényi (1911–1974), who married Hungarian Count Béla Hadik (1905–1971), a son of Count

János Hadik Count János Hadik de Futak (; 23 November 1863 in Pálócz – 10 December 1933 in Budapest) was a Hungarian landowner and politician who served for 17 hours as Prime Minister of Hungary, beginning on 30 October 1918. His tenure coincided wit ...

, who was briefly the

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary This article lists the Prime Minister of Hungary, prime ministers of Hungary (, ) from when the first Prime Minister (in the modern sense), Lajos Batthyány, took office in 1848 (during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848) until the present day. Th ...

. * Countess Gladys Széchényi (1913–1978), who married the English

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). They divorced in 1945, and in 1954, she married American banker Arthur Talbot Peterson (1905–1962). * Countess Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie "Syvie" Széchényi (1918–1998), who married Hungarian Count Antal Szapáry von Muraszombath Széchysziget und Szapar (1905–1972). * Countess Ferdinandine "Bubby" Széchényi (1923–2016), who married the Austrian Count Alexander von und zu Eltz genannt Faust von Stromberg (1911–1977). CoSzéchenyi died in

on 5 July 1938. His widow died on 29 January 1965 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Descendants

Through his daughter Gladys, he was a grandfather of

Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea Christopher Denys Stormonte Finch-Hatton (17 November 1936 – 26 June 1999) was the 16th Earl of Winchilsea and 11th Earl of Nottingham as well as a member of the American Vanderbilt family through his maternal grandmother, Gladys Moore Vander ...

(1936–1999), who is known for his work promoting of the interests of the displaced

Sahrawi people The Sahrawis, or Sahrawi people ( '), are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the southwestern border of Algeria. They are of mixed ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szechenyi, Laszlo 1879 births 1938 deaths Austro-Hungarian Army officers Diplomats from Austria-Hungary Ambassadors of Hungary to the United Kingdom Laszlo Ambassadors of Hungary to the United States Ambassadors of Hungary to Mexico