László Széchenyi Explained

László Széchenyi
Office:Hungarian Minister to the United Kingdom
Primeminister:Ramsay MacDonald
Term Start:1933
Term End:1935
Predecessor:Baron Iván Rubido-Zichy
Successor:Szilárd Masirevich
Order1:1st
Office1:List of ambassadors of Hungary to the United StatesHungarian Minister to the United States
Monarch1:Miklós Horthy
President1:Warren G. Harding
Term Start1:1922
Term End1:1933
Predecessor1:Inaugural holder
Successor1:John Pelenyi
Birth Name:Count László Jenő Mária Henrik Simon Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék
Birth Date:18 February 1879
Birth Place:Horpács, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Death Place:Budapest, Hungary
Nationality:Hungarian
Occupation:Military officer, diplomat, Imperial Chamberlain, venture capitalist
Children:5
Relations:Dionys Széchényi (brother)

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]

Early life

The 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

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

The 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.

Personal life

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:

CoSzéchenyi died in Budapest on 5 July 1938.[9] His widow died on 29 January 1965 in Washington, D.C.[24]

Descendants

See also: Vanderbilt family. Through 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]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi. . theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. The Esoteric Curiosa. 28 March 2016.
  2. News: SZECHENYI COMPANY USES HIS INVENTION - The Count's Submarine Wireless Tried Out by Torpedo Boat at Newport . 25 October 2019 . . August 28, 1912.
  3. Web site: Catalogue The Catalogue Széchényi, Count László The de Laszlo Archive Trust . 2024-02-15 . www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com.
  4. Web site: The Esoteric Curiosa: Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi. . theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. 2014-10-24.
  5. Web site: The Esoteric Curiosa. theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. 2014-10-24.
  6. Web site: 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. query.nytimes.com. 2014-10-24.
  7. News: The Washington bee. volume (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, January 04, 1908, Image 3 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress. 4 January 1908. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. 2014-10-24.
  8. News: SZECHENYI TO BE ENVOY.; Gladys Vanderbilt's Husband Will Represent Hungary Here. . 25 October 2019 . . 24 December 1921.
  9. Web site: 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. 2014-10-24.
  10. Book: Vanderbilt, Arthur T. II . Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt . registration . 1989 . Morrow . New York . 0-688-07279-8.
  11. News: 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. . 25 October 2019 . . January 26, 1908.
  12. News: 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 . 25 October 2019 . . January 28, 1908.
  13. Book: Newportraits. Newport Art Museum (R.I.). 2000. University Press of New England. 978-1-58465-018-8. 177. 2014-10-24.
  14. News: Times. Special Cable To The New York. DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; Former Miss Gladys Vanderbilt Becomes a Mother at Her Castle. 28 April 2017. The New York Times. 28 October 1908.
  15. News: MISS SZECHENYI ENGAGED TO WED; Daughter of the Hungarian Minister to London and E. B. Roberts to Marry. . 25 October 2019 . . 13 June 1933.
  16. News: SZECHENYI'S SECOND CHILD.; Daughter Born to Him and the Countess -- Son to Viscountess Maidstone. . 28 April 2017. The New York Times. 5 August 1911.
  17. News: Countess Hadik, 63; Was a Descendant Of the Vanderbilts . 25 October 2019 . . 27 February 1974.
  18. News: Count Bela Nadik, a Dog Breeder, 66 . 3 September 2019 . . 20 February 1971.
  19. News: Times. Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To The New York. DAUGHTER TO SZECHENYIS.; She Was Born at Her Parents' English Home on Thursday. . 28 April 2017. The New York Times. 16 August 1913.
  20. News: LORD WINCHILSEA, DREXEL KIN, WEDS: 15th Earl Marries in London Mary A. Conroy, Daughter of Fruit Merchant. 10 August 2016. The New York Times. June 18, 1946.
  21. News: Paid Notice: Deaths COLWELL, PHOEBE ANN TALBOT PETERSON . 25 October 2019 . . October 14, 2012 . en.
  22. Book: Arts . United States Commission of Fine . Massachusetts Avenue Architecture . 1973 . . 186 . 25 October 2019 . en.
  23. Web site: Hungarian National Museum enriched with an invaluable collection . mnm.hu . . 25 October 2019 . en . 19 December 2017.
  24. News: Times. Special To The New York. Countess Szechenyi a Citizen. 28 April 2017. The New York Times. 23 September 1947.
  25. News: Philip. A B. Obituary: The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham. 29 March 2013. The Independent. 8 Jul 1999.

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