Szechenyi, Gladys Vanderbilt, Countess, 1887-1965

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Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi (August 27, 1886 – January 29, 1965), was an American heiress from the Vanderbilt family and wife of Hungarian Count László Széchenyi. Her parents were Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne; her father was the president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad and part of the prominent Vanderbilt family.

She grew up in the one of the Vanderbilt family mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City and at their summer "cottage" called The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. 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 for $1 a year.

On January 27, 1908, she married Hungarian Count László Széchenyi (1879–1938) in New York City.

Countess Széchenyi died in 1965. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased The Breakers for $365,000 from her heirs.

Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Bliss, Robert Woods, 1875-1962 person
associatedWith Browne, Maurice, 1881-1955. person
associatedWith Elmhirst, Dorothy Payne Whitney Straight. person
associatedWith Elmhirst, Dorothy Whitney Straight, 1887-1968. person
associatedWith Hammond, Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, 1874-1970, person
associatedWith O'Shaughnessy family family
associatedWith O'Shaughnessy family. family
Place Name Admin Code Country
District of Columbia DC US
Budapest 05 HU
Newport RI US
Newport RI US
Hungary 00 HU
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Birth 1887-08-27

Death 1965-01-29

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SNAC ID: 88027153