Ava Alice Muriel Astor

Ava Alice Muriel Astor
Astor, c. 1920s
Born	Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902-07-07)July 7, 1902 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 19, 1956(1956-07-19) (aged 54) New York City, U.S.
Burial place	Rhinebeck Cemetery, Rhinebeck, New York, U.S.[1]
Spouses	Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky ​ ​ (m. 1924; div. 1932)​ Raimund von Hofmannsthal ​ ​ (m. 1933; div. 1939)​ Philip John Ryves Harding ​ ​ (m. 1940; div. 1945)​ David Pleydell-Bouverie ​ ​ (m. 1946; div. 1952)​
Children	Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky Princess Sylvia Sergeyevna Obolensky Romana von Hofmannsthal Emily Sophia Harding
Parent(s)	John Jacob Astor IV Ava Lowle Willing
Relatives	Astor family

Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) was an American heiress, socialite, and member of the Astor family.[2] She was the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing, and sister of Vincent Astor and half-sister of John Jacob Astor VI.

Early life

Further information: Livingston family

Ava Astor was born on July 7, 1902, in Manhattan, New York City. She was the only daughter of Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912) who died in the sinking of the Titanic and Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958).

Her paternal grandparents were real estate businessman and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908), while her maternal grandparents were businessman Edward Shippen Willing (1822–1906) and socialite Alice Caroline Barton (1833–1903).[3]

In September 1911, Ava and her mother moved to England. They lived in her townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London (from October–April) and her country estate, Sutton Place in Guildford, Surrey (from May–September), and she was educated at Notting Hill High School.

Personal life

On July 24, 1924, Ava Astor married Prince Sergei Platonovich "Serge" Obolensky, son of General Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina, at Savoy Chapel in London. The marriage was considered the event of the season in England that year.

Her brother Vincent gave her a Palladian Revival stone residence on his estate near Rhinebeck, New York. The house was north of his own "Ferncliff Casino" ("Astor Courts") and also overlooked the Hudson River.[4] Ava named it "Marienruh" and retained it through her life.[5] Before divorcing Serge in 1932, they had two children:

• Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky (1925–2019), who married Claire McGinnis in 1949. They divorced in 1956 and he married Mary Elizabeth Morris in 1959.
• Princess Sylvia Sergeyevna Obolensky (1931–1997),[6] who married Jean-Louis Ganshof van der Meersch,[7] in 1950. They divorced in 1957 and she married Prince Azamat Kadir Guirey,[8] in 1957. They divorced in 1963.

On January 21, 1933, she married Raimund von Hofmannsthal (1906–1974), member of the Hofmannsthal family, the son of Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the Austrian poet, novelist, librettist, and dramatist and his wife, Gertrud Schlesinger. He was said to be the father of Sylvia.[9] The couple was married in the city court of Newark, New Jersey.[10] Together, the couple had a daughter:

• Romana von Hofmannsthal (1935–2014), who married Roderick McEwen, a son of Sir John McEwen, 1st Baronet,[11] in 1958.[12]

From 1936 to 1937, she had an affair with English choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton (1904–1988), despite the fact that he was gay. After the affair ended, her love for him continued, though she had two subsequent marriages.[13] Ava and Raimund eventually divorced in 1939, and Raimund later married Lady Elizabeth Paget (a daughter of Charles Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey).[14]

On March 27, 1940, she married Philip John Ryves Harding (1906–1972), a journalist, in Faversham, England.[14] At the time of their wedding, Harding, a cousin of Maxwell Eley, was serving with an anti-aircraft battery in the British Army.[14] Before their divorce in 1945, they had one daughter:

• Emily Sophia Harding (1941–2019), who married architect Michael Zimmer, a son of Heinrich Zimmer (and nephew of her second husband Raimund), on June 29, 1963.[15][16] They divorced and she later married Eric Glanbard and artist Clark Murray in 2017.[17]

On May 12, 1946, she had her fourth and final marriage to David Pleydell-Bouverie (1911–1994), the grandson of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor, in Reading, Vermont.[18] Pleydell-Bouverie was an architect who studied at Charterhouse School in England. They divorced in 1952.[18]

Death

Ava Astor House 219 in East Sixty-first Street, Manhattan

Astor died of a stroke in her 219 East Sixty-first Street apartment, Manhattan, New York City, on July 19, 1956, at age 54.[2] She predeceased her mother by two years.[3] She was a patron of the arts, including the ballet companies of London and New York City.

Her will was admitted to probate on November 5, 1956, in Manhattan Surrogate Court. Her assets, totaling $5,305,000, (equivalent to approximately $59,452,362 in 2023 dollars)[19] were divided among her four children.[20] At her mother's death in 1958, her children received an additional $2,500,000 (equivalent to approximately $26,401,384 in 2023 dollars)[19][3]

References

1. "History".
2. "Mrs. Pleydell-Bouverie Dies Here. Daughter of Col. John Jacob Astor. Heiress, a Patron of Ballet Companies, Was 54. Did War Work in Britain". The New York Times. July 20, 1956. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
3. "Lady Ribblesdale Leaves $3,000,000". The New York Times. June 14, 1958. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
4. "Luxist". Luxist.com. June 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
5. "An Astor Legacy fit for celebrating Chelsea Clinton's wedding". New York Social Diary. July 8, 2010. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
6. "Paid Notice: Deaths GUIREY, SYLVIA OBOLENSKY". The New York Times. July 1, 1997. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
7. Jean-Louis Ganshof van der Meersch: Saint-Gilles, Belgium, July 14, 1924 – Le Temple, Lacanau, France August 22, 1982
8. Prince Azamat Kadir Guirey: New York County, New York, August 14, 1924 – The Bahamas, August 8, 2001
9. Baker, Anne Pimlott (2004). "Guirey [née Obolensky], Princess Sylvia (1931–1997), artist and art patron". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67153. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved September 6, 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. "Astor Heiress Wed Quietly in Jersey. Princess Obolensky Becomes Bride of Raimund von Hof-mannsthal of Austria. Troth Not Announced. Ceremony Performed Saturday by Police Court Judge. Couple Left Immediately for Europe". The New York Times. January 24, 1933. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
11. "Niece Of Astor Is Future Bride. Romana von Hofmannstahl Engaged to Rory McEwen, Spectator's Art Director". The New York Times. October 22, 1957. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
12. "Niece of Astor Wed in London To Art Director; Miss von Hofmannsthal Is Married to Roderick McEwen of Spectator". The New York Times. April 16, 1958. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
13. Kaplan, Fred (1999). Gore Vidal : a biography. New York: Doubleday. p. 318. ISBN 0385477031.
14. "Astor Heiress Wed To Philip Harding. Mrs. Ava von Hofmannsthal British Journalist's Bride". The New York Times. March 29, 1940. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
15. "Michael Zimmer Becomes Fiance Of Miss Harding; Graduate of Harvard to Wed Descendant of John Jacob Astor". The New York Times. May 27, 1963. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
16. "Michael Zimmer Weds Miss Emily S. Harding". The New York Times. June 30, 1963. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
17. "Emily Sophia Harding". The Poughkeepsie Journal. September 22, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
18. "Mrs. Ava Harding Is Wed In Vermont. Daughter of Lady Ribblesdale and Late Col. Astor Bride of David Pleydell-Bouverie". The New York Times. May 15, 1946. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
19. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
20. "Lost Will Disposes Of $5,305,000 Estate". The New York Times. November 6, 1956. Retrieved February 17, 2009.