Dionys Széchényi

The native form of this personal name is Széchenyi Dionys. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Dionys Széchenyi
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Denmark
In office
1908–1917
Preceded byIván von Rubido-Zichy
(as Charge d'Affaires)
Succeeded byOtto von Franz
(as Charge d'Affaires)
Personal details
Born
Dénes Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék

(1866-12-01)1 December 1866
Pest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Died26 January 1934(1934-01-26) (aged 67)
Stockholm, Sweden
NationalityHungarian
Spouse
Emilie de Caraman et Chimay
​
​
(m. 1896; died 1934)​
Children4
Parent(s)Imre Széchényi
Alexandra Sztáray

Count Dénes "Dionys" Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék (1 December 1866 – 26 January 1934), was an Austro Hungarian soldier and diplomat.

Early life

Széchenyi on 1 December 1866 in Pest, then a part of Austria-Hungary, a dual monarchy established in 1867. Born into a prominent Hungarian noble family, he was the eldest son of Count Imre Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék (1825–1898), the former Austrian Minister at the Court of Berlin and his wife, Countess Alexandra Sztáray de Sztára et Nagy-Mihály (1843–1914).[1] The Széchényi family were one of the oldest and wealthiest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[2] His younger brothers were Count Peter Széchenyi (who married Maria Ilona Esterházy de Galántha),[3] Count István Széchenyi, and Count László Széchenyi (who married American heiress Gladys Vanderbilt).[4]

His paternal grandparents were Count Ludwig "Lajos" Maria Aloys Széchenyi (eldest son of Count Ferenc Széchényi) and, his second wife, Austrian Countess Francisca (née von Wurmbrand-Stuppach) Széchenyi.[5] His maternal grandparents were Count Ferdinánd Sztáray de Sztára et Nagy-Mihály, and Matilda Klobusiczky.[6]

Career

Széchényi and his three brothers were all Reserve Lieutenants in the Imperial and Royal Hussars as well as Chamberlains at the Court.[7] 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.[8] In 1898, upon the death of his father, he became the head of the Széchényi family.[9]

Like his father, he became a diplomat.[10] After serving in Paris, and as Secretary to the Legation in Dresden and Munich, he was appointed the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Denmark in 1908 succeeded Christoph von Wydenbruck, who left in 1907. The interim head of mission was Charge d'Affaires Iván von Rubido-Zichy.[11] He served until 1917, until he was called back on account of his Entente sympathies.[12] After he left Copenhagen, he returned to his estates in Hungary where the Hungarian Republic was established in 1918 by pacifist Count Mihály Károlyi following the end of World War I and the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Széchényi, however, was forced to flee fourteen months later after the establishment of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, a Soviet socialist republic run by the Red Guards under the command of Mátyás Rákosi who nationalized all private property.[13]

Personal life

Portrait of his wife, Countess Dénes Széchényi, by Philip de László, 1912

In 1896, Széchényi married Countess Emilie de Caraman et Chimay (1871–1944),[14] a daughter of Louise de Graffenried-Villars and Eugène Auguste de Riquet, Prince de Caraman-Chimay (son of Joseph de Riquet de Caraman, 17th Prince de Chimay and Émilie Pellapra). Her sister, Hélène, was married to John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio.[15] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Count Janos Széchenyi (1897–1969), who married Countess Julianna Széchenyi, a daughter of Count Andor Pál Széchényi (eldest son of Count Gyula Széchényi).[16]
  • Countess Alexandra Széchenyi (1899–1977), who studied at a horticultural college in England and made improvements to the Sopronhorpács Park at the baroque Széchenyi Castle.[17]
  • Countess Louise-Denise Széchenyi (1901–1995), who married János Esterházy de Galántha, a son of Mária Sandor Esterházy de Galántha and Agnese Borghese-Aldobrandini.[16]
  • Count Ferdinand Széchenyi (1909–1996)[16]

The prominent Anglo-Hungarian portrait painter, Philip de László, made two portraits of his wife, both in 1912.[18][19]

Széchényi died in Stockholm, Sweden on 26 January 1934.[9]

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "Catalogue | The Catalogue | Széchényi, Count László | The de Laszlo Archive Trust". www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  3. ^ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser (in German). Justus Perthes. 1908. p. 265. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  4. ^ "COUNT SZECHENVI, EX-ENVOY, IS DEAD; Husband of the Former Gladys Vanderbilt Was Hungarian Minister to U. S. SERVED HERE 12 YEARS Transferred to London Post in 1933--Aided Austria on Ethiopian Mission Ancestors Fought for Hungary On Mission to Abyssinia Envoy to Washington". The New York Times. 6 July 1938. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Grand Piano Records- The Széchényi family – A Hungarian Dynasty". grandpianorecords.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  6. ^ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser (in German). Justus Perthes. 1917. p. 949. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  7. ^ "The Esoteric Curiosa: Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi". theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  8. ^ "Cash For Coronets: A 'Ruritanian' Coupling The Likes of Anthony Hope, Vanderbilt & Széchenyi". theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com. The Esoteric Curiosa. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b Twain, Mark (15 October 2015). Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition. Univ of California Press. p. 525. ISBN 978-0-520-96186-9. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  10. ^ Széchényi of Sárvár and Felsővidék, Imre Gf.. | Österreichisches biographisches Lexikon, 1815-1950 (PDF). Vienna: Verl. der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 2015. p. 130. ISBN 978-3-7001-7794-4. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  11. ^ Godsey, William D. (1999). Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War. Purdue University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-1-55753-140-7. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  12. ^ Egan, Maurice (16 March 2021). Ten Years Near the German Frontier: A Retrospect and a Warning. Litres. p. 99. ISBN 978-5-04-075291-1. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  13. ^ Times, the New York Times Company Special Cable To the New York (8 April 1919). "DIONYS SZECHENYI FLEES TO DENMARK; Brother-in-Law of Former Miss Vanderbilt Says "Red Guard" Took Away His Fortune". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  14. ^ Almanach de Gotha: annuaire généalogique, diplomatique et statistique (in French). J. Perthes. 1913. p. 491. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  15. ^ Annuaire général heraldique pour 1904 (in French). 1904. p. 756. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  16. ^ a b c Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser (in German). Justus Perthes. 1939. p. 571. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  17. ^ Acta Historiae Artium (in German). Akadémiai Kiadó. 2006. p. 165. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Catalogue | The Catalogue | Széchényi, Countess Dénes, née Emilie de Caraman Chimay | The de Laszlo Archive Trust". www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Catalogue | The Catalogue | Széchényi, Countess Dénes, née Emilie de Caraman Chimay | The de Laszlo Archive Trust". www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
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