WikiMini

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.
DiedJuly 19, 1956(1956-07-19) (aged 54)
New York City, U.S.
Burial placeRhinebeck Cemetery, Rhinebeck, New York, U.S.[1]
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1924; div. 1932)​
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1939)​
Philip John Ryves Harding
​
​
(m. 1940; div. 1945)​
David Pleydell-Bouverie
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1952)​
ChildrenPrince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky
Princess Sylvia Sergeyevna Obolensky
Romana von Hofmannsthal
Emily Sophia Harding
Parent(s)John Jacob Astor IV
Ava Lowle Willing
RelativesAstor family

Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) was an American heiress, socialite, and member of the prominent Astor family.[2]

Early life

[edit]
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, who died during the sinking of the Titanic, and his wife Ava Lowle Willing. She had a younger brother, Vincent Astor, and a paternal half-brother: John Jacob Astor VI.[3]

Her paternal grandparents were real estate businessman and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor Jr., and socialite Caroline Schermerhorn Astor. Her maternal grandparents were businessman Edward Shippen Willing and socialite Alice Caroline Barton.[4]

After her parents divorced in 1909, Ava was placed into the custody of her mother while Vincent was placed into the custody of their father.[5][6] In September 1911, Ava and her mother moved to England. They lived in a townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London from October to April, and at their country estate, Sutton Place in Guildford, Surrey, from May to September. She was educated at Notting Hill High School. In 1920, Ava was one of the few American heiresses presented to Queen Mary.[7]

When she turned 21, Ava received at least $5 million from a trust fund established by her father (equivalent to $162,913,793 in 2024).[3] Due to the immensity of her wealth and rumors that multiple noblemen were seeking her hand in marriage, Ava was called a "dollar princess."[8]

Personal life

[edit]

On July 4, 1924 the engagement of Ava Astor and Prince Serge Obolensky, a recently-divorced Russian aristocrat over ten years her senior, was publicly announced. This was a surprise for many, as Jack Astor had been opposed to international marriages and Ava had previously been rumored to be engaged to several different men, including Lord Dalmeny, son of the Earl of Rosebery, and the Marquis of Blandford, eldest son of the Duchess of Marlborough.[9] The pair were married in London on July 24, 1924 in three ceremonies: one was a private civil ceremony, one privately took place at Savoy Chapel, and one was a public ceremony at St. Philip's Church.[10] The marriage was considered the event of the season in England that year.

Ava and Serge pictured on the day of their wedding

The couple had two children together: Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky, born in 1925, and Princess Sylvia Sergeyevna Obolensky, born in 1931.[11] Throughout their marriage, the pair were rumored to be unhappy. In December 1932, Ava moved to Reno, Nevada and filed for divorce.[12][13]

On January 21, 1933, she remarried to Raimund von Hofmannsthal, a member of the noble Hofmannsthal family and son of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and his wife, Gertrud Schlesinger. The couple was married in the city court of Newark, New Jersey.[14] The couple had a daughter: Romana von Hofmannsthal,[15][16] but Raimund was also rumored to be the father of Sylvia, her daughter from her first marriage.[17] Ava and Raimund eventually divorced in 1939, and he later married to Lady Elizabeth Paget.[18]

From 1936 to 1937, she had an affair with English choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, despite the fact that he was gay. After the affair ended, her love for him continued, though she had two subsequent marriages.[19]

On March 27, 1940, she married Philip John Ryves Harding, a journalist, in Faversham, England.[18] At the time of their wedding, Harding, a cousin of Maxwell Eley, was serving with an anti-aircraft battery in the British Army.[18] Before their divorce in 1945, they had one daughter, Emily Sophia Harding, in 1941. On May 12, 1946, she had her fourth and final marriage to David Pleydell-Bouverie, the grandson of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor, in Reading, Vermont.[20] Pleydell-Bouverie was an architect who studied at Charterhouse School in England. They divorced in 1952.[20]

Her brother Vincent gifted her a Palladian Revival stone residence overlooking the Hudson River on his estate near Rhinebeck, New York. The house was on her brother's estate and north of his house "Ferncliff," ("Astor Courts").[21] Ava named it "Marienruh" and retained it throughout her life.[22]

Death

[edit]
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.[4] 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 $61,354,890 in 2024)[23] were divided among her four children.[24] At her mother's death in 1958, her children received an additional $2,500,000 (equivalent to approximately $27,246,251 in 2024).[23][4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "History".
  2. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "Astor's Estate Held in Trust". Lewiston Morning Tribune. May 7, 1912. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Lady Ribblesdale Leaves $3,000,000". The New York Times. June 14, 1958. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "Would Probably Share $100,000,000 Estate with Stepmother in Event of His Father's Death". The New York Times. April 17, 1912. Retrieved August 11, 2008. Mrs. Ava Willing Astor, obtained her divorce from John Jacob Astor, in November, 1909
  6. ^ "Astors are Now Asunder: Alimony May Smash Records". Dawson Daily News. April 2, 1910. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  7. ^ "American Heiress Weds Self-Supporting Prince". The Gazette Times. July 25, 1924. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  8. ^ "Rich Man, Poor Man, Duke or Peasant? Upon Whom will the "Dollar Princess," Pretty Alice Muriel, Daughter of the Late Col. John Jacob Astor, Confer her Newly Acquired Dowry of 5 Million Dollars-- or is it Ten?". The Spokesman Review. August 11, 1923. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  9. ^ "Miss Astor to Wed Russian Nobleman". The New York Times. July 4, 1924. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  10. ^ "Prince Obolensky and Alice Astor Marry in London". The Montreal Gazette. July 25, 1924. p. 8. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  11. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths GUIREY, SYLVIA OBOLENSKY". The New York Times. July 1, 1997. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  12. ^ "Princess Obolensky in Reno for Divorce". The New York Times. December 4, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  13. ^ "Princess Granted Divorce at Reno". Pittsburg Post-Gazette. December 9, 1932. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 23, 2025.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ 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, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  18. ^ a b c "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.
  19. ^ Kaplan, Fred (1999). Gore Vidal : a biography. New York: Doubleday. p. 318. ISBN 0385477031.
  20. ^ a b "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.
  21. ^ "Luxist". Luxist.com. June 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ a b 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.
  24. ^ "Lost Will Disposes Of $5,305,000 Estate". The New York Times. November 6, 1956. Retrieved February 17, 2009.