Mona von Bismarck
| Mona von Bismarck | |
|---|---|
"The Kentucky Countess" (detail), painting from 1943 by Salvador Dalí (1904–1989). Courtesy of the Mona Bismarck American Center for Arts and Culture, Paris
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| Born |
Mona Travis Strader February 5, 1897 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 10, 1983 (aged 86) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Socialite |
| Spouse(s) |
Henry J. Schlesinger (1917–1920) James Irving Bush (1921–1925) Harrison Williams (1926–1953) Albrecht Edzard Heinrich Karl, Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1955–1970) Umberto de Martini (1971–1979) |
| Children | Robert Henry Schlesinger |
Mona von Bismarck (February 5, 1897 – July 10, 1983), known as Mona Bismarck, was an American socialite, fashion icon, and famed beauty. Her five husbands included Harrison Williams, said to be the richest man in America, and the Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen, grandson of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Mona was the first American to be named "The Best Dressed Woman in the World" by a panel of top couturiers including Chanel, and was also named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
She was born Margaret Edmona Travis Strader in Louisville, Kentucky in 1897 to Robert Sims Strader and his wife, Bird O'Shockeny. Her parents divorced in 1902, and Mona and her brother were raised in Lexington, Kentucky, by their paternal grandmother.
Through their mother, Patricia Strader, Mona was the great-aunt to automobile racers David "Salt" Walther and George "Skipp" Walther III.
In 1917, she married Henry J. Schlesinger, a man 18 years her senior who owned Fairland Farm in Lexington where her father was a professional trainer, and moved to Milwaukee where he had an iron and coke business. During the marriage, Mona bore a son, Robert Henry, whom she left in the custody of Schlesinger in exchange for half a million dollars when they divorced in 1920. (Her son would marry Frederica Barker, elder sister of actor Lex Barker.) In 1921, she married the banker James Irving Bush, 14 years her senior, said to be the "handsomest man in America". They divorced in Paris in 1925.
In 1926, Mona opened a New York dress shop with her friend Laura Merriam Curtis, the daughter of William Rush "Spooky" Merriam, a former Governor of Minnesota. At the time, Laura was previously engaged to Harrison Williams, said to be the richest man in America with an estimated fortune of $600 million ($8,100,000,000 in today dollars), made in financing public utilities. On July 2, 1926, Mona married Williams, a widower 24 years her senior. For their honeymoon they went on a cruise around the world on Williams' Warrior, at the time, the largest, most expensive pleasure boat in the world.
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