Serge Obolensky
| Prince Serge Obolensky | |
|---|---|
Obolensky circa 1943
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| Born |
Sergei Platonovich Obolensky November 3, 1890 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | September 29, 1978 (aged 87) Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan |
| Alma mater | Oxford University |
| Spouse(s) |
Catherine Yurievskaya (m. 1916; div. 1924) Ava Alice Muriel Astor (m. 1924; div. 1932) Marilyn Wall (m. 1971; his death 1978) |
| Children |
Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky Sylvia Obolensky Guirey |
| Parent(s) | Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina |
Prince Sergei Platonovich Obolensky Neledinsky-Meletzky (Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, November 3, 1890 – Grosse Pointe, Wayne County, Michigan, USA, September 29, 1978) — known as Serge Obolensky — was a Russian-American aristocrat, U.S. Army paratrooper, socialite and publicist. He served as vice chairman of the board of directors of the Hilton Hotels Corporation.
Obolensky's parents were Prince Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletzky (1850–1913) and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina (1861–1929). He had a younger brother, Vladimir (1896–1968), who died unmarried and childless.
He was an enthusiastic polo player and played for his University Team 1914 in Oxford.
Obolensky was a soldier in two World Wars and in the Russian Civil War and fled his native country after battling Bolsheviks as a guerrilla fighter. He was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. paratroopers and a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the CIA, and made his first five jumps in 1943 at the age of 53.
After his second marriage, he settled in the U.S., working with his new brother-in-law, the real estate entrepreneur Vincent Astor. He also started a business, Parfums Chevalier Garde, with fellow emigre, Aleksandre Tarsaidze (1901–1978). Tarsaidze was president until 1940 when they were cut off from their French suppliers during World War II. When Obolensky was president of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, Tarsaidze became his assistant. Tarsaidze later wrote a novel about the parents of Obolensky's first wife, Alexander II and Catherine Dolgorukov.
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