Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan-Vanderbilt

Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt with her daughter "Little Gloria".
Born	Maria Mercedes Morgan (1904-08-23)23 August 1904 Grand Hotel National, Lucerne, Switzerland
Died	13 February 1965(1965-02-13) (aged 60) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cancer
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery
Nationality	American
Education	Strathalan House, England Convent schools in Spain and Switzerland Convent of the Sacred Heart Skerton Finishing School Miss Nightingale's School
Occupation	Socialite
Known for	Socialite, mother of Gloria Vanderbilt, maternal grandmother of Anderson Cooper
Home town	New York, New York
Spouse(s)	Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt
Children	Gloria Laura Vanderbilt
Relatives	Thelma, Viscountess Furness (sister) Harry Hays Morgan Jr. (brother) Anderson Cooper (grandson) Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (maternal grandfather)
Family	Morgan, Vanderbilt

Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (born Maria Mercedes Morgan; August 23, 1904 – February 13, 1965) was a Swiss-born American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anderson Cooper. She was a central figure in Vanderbilt vs. Whitney, one of the most sensational American custody trials in the 20th century.

Born at the Grand Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland, as Maria Mercedes Morgan, she was a daughter of Henry Hays Morgan, Sr. (1860–1933), an American diplomat, who served as U.S. consul general in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Havana, Cuba; and Brussels, Belgium. Her mother was his second wife, the former Laura Delphine Kilpatrick (1877–1956); the couple was married in 1894 and divorced in 1927.

Her maternal grandfather, Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836–1881), was a Union Army general during the American Civil War who also served as the U.S. minister to Chile. Her maternal grandmother, Luisa Kilpatrick, née Valdivieso Araoz, was a member of a wealthy Chilean family that migrated from Spain in the 17th century.

Morgan, who adopted the name Gloria as a teenager, had five siblings:

Gloria Morgan was educated by governesses and in convents in Europe as well as New York City, where she attended the Catholic Convent of the Sacred Heart (in the Manhattanville section of the city), the Skerton Finishing School, and Miss Nightingale's School. In October 1921, with their father's permission, Morgan and her sister Thelma, both reportedly 16 years of age, ended their schooling and moved by themselves into an apartment at 40 Fifth Avenue, a private townhouse. The sisters had some minor roles in silent movies, using the names Gloria and Thelma Rochelle. Their debuts were as extras in the 1922 Marion Davies vehicle The Young Diana.