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. László Széchenyi married Gladys Vanderbilt, the youngest daughter of Alice Claypoole Gwynne and Cornelius Vanderbilt II.[1]
László Széchenyi | |
|---|---|
 Countess and Count László Széchenyi, c. 1908. | |
| Hungarian Minister to the United Kingdom | |
| In office 1933–1935 | |
| Monarch | Miklós Horthy |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald |
| Preceded by | Baron Iván Rubido-Zichy |
| Succeeded by | Szilárd Masirevich |
| 1st Hungarian Minister to the United States | |
| In office 1922–1933 | |
| Monarch | Miklós Horthy |
| President | Warren G. Harding |
| Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
| Succeeded by | John Pelenyi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Count László Jenő Mária Henrik Simon Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék 18 February 1879 Horpács, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) |
| Died | 5 July 1938 (aged 59) Budapest, Hungary |
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Dionys Széchényi (brother) |
| Children | 5 |
| Occupation | Military officer, diplomat, Imperial Chamberlain, venture capitalist |
Early life
editThe Count was born Széchenyi László Jenő Mária Henrik Simon on February 18, 1879 in Horpács, then a part of Austria-Hungary, a dual monarchy established in 1867. 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).[2] The Széchényi family were one of the oldest and wealthiest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[3] He was also the great grandson of Ferenc Széchényi
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.[4]
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.[1]
Career
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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, in Newport, Rhode Island. Széchenyi, along with David C. Watts, formed the Submarine Wireless Company to produce it.[2]
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.[5][6][7]
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.[5]
Diplomatic career
editThe Kingdom of Hungary and the United States signed a treaty establishing friendly relations on August 29, 1921.[8] 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.[9] He was transferred to the same post at the Court of Saint James in England in 1933.[citation needed]
Personal life
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Széchenyi was twenty-eight years old when he met Gladys Vanderbilt (1886–1965), the seventh and youngest child of Alice Claypoole Gwynne and Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad. Gladys grew up in the family home on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and their summer "cottage," The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island.[10] They married on January 27, 1908, at her family home in New York City, after their meeting in Berlin near her twenty-first birthday in 1907.[11][12] Their early married life was spent in Hungary raising their five children.[13] Together, Széchenyi and Vanderbilt were the parents of five daughters:
- Countess Cornelia "Gilia" Széchényi (1908–1958),[14] who married Eugene Bowie Roberts (1898–1983), an heir of the Roberts family of Bowie, Maryland, a Colonial family of Maryland.[15]
- Countess Alice "Ai" Széchényi (1911–1974),[16][17] who married Hungarian Count Béla Hadik (1905–1971), a son of Count János Hadik, who was briefly the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary.[18]
- Countess Gladys Széchényi (1913–1978),[19] who married the English Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea (1911–1950). They divorced in 1945,[20] and in 1954, she married American banker Arthur Talbot Peterson (1905–1962).[21][22]
- Countess Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie "Syvie" Széchényi (1918–1998), who married Hungarian Count Antal Szapáry von Muraszombath Széchysziget und Szapar (1905–1972).[23]
- 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 Budapest on 5 July 1938.[9] His widow died on 29 January 1965 in Washington, D.C.[24]
Descendants
editThrough his daughter Gladys, he was a grandfather of Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea (1936–1999), who is known for his work promoting of the interests of the displaced Sahrawi people.[25]
References
edit- ^ a b "Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi". theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. The Esoteric Curiosa. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ^ a b "SZECHENYI COMPANY USES HIS INVENTION - The Count's Submarine Wireless Tried Out by Torpedo Boat at Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. August 28, 1912. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "Catalogue | The Catalogue | Széchényi, Count László | The de Laszlo Archive Trust". www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ "The Esoteric Curiosa: Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi". theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ a b "The Esoteric Curiosa". theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ "Count Szechenyi's Summer Seat - Oermezo, is a Picturesque Village of About 1,000 Inhabitants in Upper Hungary. Miss Gladys Vanderbilt's Future Neighbors. - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). query.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ "The Washington bee. volume (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, January 04, 1908, Image 3 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress". chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. 4 January 1908. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ "SZECHENYI TO BE ENVOY.; Gladys Vanderbilt's Husband Will Represent Hungary Here" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 December 1921. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ a b "A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Hungary". Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute United States Department of State. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ Vanderbilt, Arthur T. II (1989). Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07279-8.
- ^ "THE HOUSE OF SZECHENYI IN MAGYAR ANNALS. Long and Illustrious Record of the Ancient Hungarian Family Into Which Miss Gladys Vanderbilt will be Married To-morrow" (PDF). The New York Times. January 26, 1908. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "MISS VANDERBILT NOW A COUNTESS She Becomes the Bride of Count Laszlo Szechnyi, Chamberlain to Austrian Emperor CEREMONY A SIMPLE ONE Bridal Pair Elude Camera Squad and Make Their Escape in a Speeding Motor Car" (PDF). The New York Times. January 28, 1908. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ Newport Art Museum (R.I.) (2000). Newportraits. University Press of New England. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-58465-018-8. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ Times, Special Cable To The New York (28 October 1908). "DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; Former Miss Gladys Vanderbilt Becomes a Mother at Her Castle". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "MISS SZECHENYI ENGAGED TO WED; Daughter of the Hungarian Minister to London and E. B. Roberts to Marry" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 June 1933. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "SZECHENYI'S SECOND CHILD.; Daughter Born to Him and the Countess -- Son to Viscountess Maidstone". The New York Times. 5 August 1911. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "Countess Hadik, 63; Was a Descendant Of the Vanderbilts" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 February 1974. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "Count Bela Nadik, a Dog Breeder, 66" (PDF). The New York Times. 20 February 1971. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ Times, Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To The New York (16 August 1913). "DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; She Was Born at Her Parents' English Home on Thursday". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "LORD WINCHILSEA, DREXEL KIN, WEDS: 15th Earl Marries in London Mary A. Conroy, Daughter of Fruit Merchant". The New York Times. June 18, 1946. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths COLWELL, PHOEBE ANN TALBOT PETERSON". The New York Times. October 14, 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ Arts, United States Commission of Fine (1973). Massachusetts Avenue Architecture. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 186. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "Hungarian National Museum enriched with an invaluable collection". mnm.hu. Hungarian National Museum. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (23 September 1947). "Countess Szechenyi a Citizen". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ Philip, A B (8 Jul 1999). "Obituary: The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham". The Independent. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
External links
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